Warframe : Legends
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: What is legend? What is myth? What are we when we forget where we came from? Humans and Tenno have forgotten so much. Now it is time to remind some of them. This is a fanfiction. I own none of the rights to Warframe. There will be spoilers from all kinds of stuff.
1. Chapter 1

**Lost**

Tenno were weapons.

This had been known since the dawn of Orokin. Most had forgotten the origins of the Tenno, the legends had faded from the memories of fragile humankind even before the Collapse of the Empire. Few agreed what Tenno were. Grineer believed them to be monsters. Corpus believed them to be machines. Some humans thought them warrior gods others saviors or protectors. But no matter who was speaking of them, all agreed on one thing. Few beings in the Solar System could possibly match Tenno for speed, skill and savagery one on one.

That said, Tenno were _not_ invincible.

 _Get out of here._ The weak voice of the Loki who lay sprawled on the floor was clear even as his remaining life force pooled out as blood would have from a human body.

The corridor was a mismash of metal and twisted, bio-tech flesh. The former Corpus ship had been overrun with Infested even before it had run afoul of something far worse that scattered packs of feral Infested. The Tenno strike teams that had come had been prepared. Or as prepared as they could be. Nothing could have possibly prepared them for what they had found though.

 _You are our flesh._ The voice of the monster called Lephantis sounded through the link all Tenno shared bu the Mag warframe that strode to stand over the fallen Loki ignored that as she fired her Brakk hand cannon again and again. Each blast took out two or three of the various beasts that were charging her but there were so many of them.

 _Karen! Go!_ The Loki begged again as he tried to activate his revival protocols again, but they had been disrupted by whatever the Jordas mass had done to ambush the Tenno. He was dying and when he did? His energy would not be recoverable. He would be gone forever. Karen would not allow that.

It had been a bloody battle from the very beginning. Eight Tenno had answered the Lotus' call to stop the latest of the Jordas Golem's forms to appear. They had traveled to the messy section of space near the Eris planetoid and found the Jordas Golem in a habitat that it had created for itself. As always, it hadn't been hard to find. It always formed the same kind of ring, maybe some kind of instinctive behavior? It helped that the Jordas Golem was the size of a small spacecraft.

The Tenno had been prepared. They had brought their weapons, their powers and a number of specialized pieces of equipment to disrupted the Infested in the area. That was the only way to get through the huge mass to reach its vulnerable sections. Anywhere else, the damage that Tenno could inflect -even as great as that was- was healed almost instantaneously by the huge twisted form. That hadn't been the problem. The problem had come when they had breached the first set of blocked doors and come face to face with _another_ abomination. One that had no business being there.

Lephantis was a smaller Infested mass. Not that smaller was anything but relative, it still dwarfed any warframe ever created.

They had entered the room and been under instant attack. The floor of this ancient ship had been so weakened by the passage of centuries and Infestation that the first anyone had known of the enemy's presence had been when the strike team's dedicated healer, a Trinity, had vanished through a hole without even a scream. Her energy had gone back to her ship and she had deployed another warframe to rejoin the team but by then, things had gone from bad to worse. Lephantis had attacked and despite the team's preparations, they hadn't been ready for waves of infested, attacks form under the floors of the ship they were traveling on and whatever the hell Jordas was doing. The next set of vaults they had managed to get to through heroic efforts hadn't yielded to the machinery that was supposed to curb the Infestation in the area and allow access to the ancient ship's systems. They had been stuck.

That was the point that the team leader had called a retreat. Honor was all well and good, but dying for no gain was pointless. They could not match the Infested numbers and even their impressive firepower made little difference when Lephantis' heads appeared and disappeared from the floor at will. Hitting the exposed sections of the massive creatures three heads was far more difficult than normal and it hadn't been easy even when it had been ensconced in its derelict nest. Now it was nearly impossible. Not quite, but close.

The Loki had managed, through sheer skill and maybe a bit of luck, to hit one of the heads in a vulnerable spot with a high power sniper shot from his Snipetron. The misshapen mockery of a Corpus helmet had exploded and the Tenno had immediately been heartened. But only for a moment. That was when Jordas had sprung its real trap and all hell had broken loose.

The energy field that had surrounded the mass had changed and every Tenno felt something akin to physical pain. Whatever the field was, it interfered with Transference energy, the energy that most Tenno used to augment their own abilities with the aid of the Zarimon children. It had obviously been created to hurt Tenno, but how or why, no one had any inkling of. As soon as she had heard, the Lotus had immediately ordered the team to flee, fearing that their energy could disrupt their energy beyond the point of recovery. There was no point in sticking around and the Tenno understood that. They had fought a horrific fighting retreat back to where their ships had adhered to the hull of the ancient starship turned monstrosity. But only three Tenno ships could dock at once. The team had come in through a hole that had been blasted in the side of the monstrosity and said hole had healed over. The only other way out was through the engines which were now blasting at full power and not even an Archwing enhanced warframe could survive _that_.

The eight Tenno had looked at one another for a moment and then they had taken position. The leader, old and grizzled warrior named Percival who wore a Rhino warframe, had ordered the first group to egress and they had. But that left five Tenno to face an onslaught while the three ships had left and three more had docked. Even as fast as Tenno assault ships could move, such took time.

Time Jordas and Lephantis used to attack.

It had been a classic battle. A horde of bestial flesh on one side, speed, fury and skill on the other. Tenno blades and bullets met Infested claws in a story that had been repeated since the very beginning of Orokin. The Mag and Loki had used high ground and high powered weapons to whittle down the enemy, targeting larger masses with speed and precision that would have made any human sniper weep with envy. The remaining three, Percival in his Rhino, an Excalibur and the returned Trinity, had fought on the ground, sweeping entire swathes of Infested aside as they kept the landing area clear as only Tenno could.

Then Percival had fallen.

Whatever had hit the Rhino had been intense enough to break right through his Iron Skin and drop him completely to the floor. The Trinity had been at his side in moments while the others had provided cover, and her powers had revived him, but… He hadn't.

The Rhino had lain still even after the Trinity had finished her work. That didn't happen. Tenno were not immortal, but they were damn close since they were energy instead of flesh and blood. They had the ability to reconstitute themselves after horrific injuries, but it always took resources that were not infinite. At least the artificers had figured out how to keep from needing platinum every time. But this was different. When a Tenno was revived in the field buy other Tenno, it was quick and efficient. But Percival did not come back. He did not rise and return to battle. Indeed, his warframe might have been a lump of metal now.

With Percival incapacitated somehow, the team leadership landed on Aeron who detested leadership, but always stepped up when needed. He had ordered the other two to escape with Percival's body. Maybe the Healers could do something. Maybe someone could figure out what had happened even if they couldn't save Percival. The Excalibur had obviously wanted to argue, but he was too well trained to do so in the field.

That left Aeron and Karen to face the horde but neither were stupid enough to let the monsters get close. Aeron was incredibly mobile in his Loki warframe and while Karen wasn't quite as able to get to high perches, he could get her to them easily enough with his Switch Teleport.

The problem was that even if the ships docked, the Infested were swarming throughout the area now. Even Ancient tentacles couldn't reach the high perched Tenno, but the Tenno could not reach their ships either. Neither of the remaining Tenno had Energy Siphon artifacts equipped. Aeron had a rifle augmenting one and Karen an artifact that spewed corrosive materials over everything in range. Messy, but highly effecting against any Infested with armor, like Jordas and Lephantis. If they had been close enough, some enemy bodies could have been scavenged for power, but that was suicide for two lightly armored warframes.

It was a standoff.

A standoff that did not favor the Tenno. Infested were nothing if not adaptable. A call of help had resounded through the system and _dozens_ of Tenno ships were now converging on the area, but even with their skilled aim, both embattled snipers were running out of ammunition.

That was when it happened. Karen had been aiming at an Ancient down below that had a filthy purple aura around it when a stunning impact had knocked her right off her perch. Some kind of Infested she hadn't even seen had blindsided her. Probably a flier of some kind, nothing else could have reached her. Before she could even panic, she felt the familiar sensation of a teleport engulf her and _Aeron's_ form had suddenly been plummeting in her place. She had screamed even as he had hit the floor, his Dual Skana had come out and steel death had torn through the ranks of the Infested. But they had been ready for it. He hadn't been.

Even as she had slung her rifle, drawn her pistol and thrown herself from her perch, she had known it was hopeless. There were just too many Infested. She wasn't halfway down before Aeron was hit by a blue glowing tentacle and his warframe shimmered as its energy was drained by the Disruptor. Loki warframes were many things, they were _not_ durable. By the time she landed, he was on the ground, his energy pooling out like blood.

Her raised hands heralded the last of her energy sweeping every single enemy in the area off its feet to compact into a magnetized sphere. Crush was an incredibly powerful ability when used in a crowd like this. She hadn't bothered to count how many Infested were in the area, it didn't really matter. Too many. Her power failed and she gasped as every single enemy she had grabbed fell, many never to rise again as the forms they were. They would reconstitute in time, but it would take time. If only she had the time to repair Aeron's warframe before it failed completely, they could…

Time was something Karen did not have as another horde charged into he room. She stood over her adopted father's failing warframe, her Brakk spitting defiance as she readied herself for oblivion.

But then the Infested paused in mid-charge. Something… She couldn't understand why they had stopped but she threw out her hand over her father even as the timer on his warframe clicked off the last icon of his energy. The green energy that healed warframes swept down from her just in time and he gasped as his systems knit back together.

 _Karen, you moron!_ Aeron said with a growl as he swept to his feel, swords ready, but none of the Infested were looking at them!

 _I wasn't going to explain to Jak why I left you to die._ Karen said flatly as she stared at the Infested who were running out of the room now.

 _So now we both die!_ Aeron retorted as an explosion sounded from just outside the room. _What the?_ _There are no Tenno here. Are there?_ He spun to where the ships were supposed to be, but groaned as he saw Infested flesh covering the holes in the hull. _The hull_ _has healed. We need to find another way out._

"Worry not, fair citizen!"

Both Tenno spun as a loud voice sounded from nearby! Then music! Loud music! _Weird_ music! It shouldn't have been audible, this area was partly vacuum. But it was. They could do nothing but stare as the Infested that had been clogging the door vanished in an explosion like the one that had sounded before. But what took the horde's place had both Tenno freezing.

The robot was huge. It had two legs and a long cylindrical object on its top. It was familiar! An Ambulas unit! But it was _white_ instead of _black_ and… What was on its _back_? Corpus mechs could not carry riders! But this one _was_!

"You will want to duck." The form on the back of the machine said firmly as he tipped his wide white hat to them. His face was obscured by a wide black mask of some kind. A red scarf surrounded his neck. He held a Vasto pistol in hand, but too looked odd, _silver_ instead of gray or gold like a prime. Karen dove to the side, Aeron at her heels as the Ambulas aimed at the docking area.

What happened next was entirely predictable. The beam that came from the Ambulas bot was exactly the same as Tenno had faced when Corpus Executive Frohd Bek had revamped every Ambulas unit to a newer and more deadly design. Both Karen and Aeron had faced the new Ambulas units in battle. They knew exactly how dangerous that beam was. But it was not directed at them!

A massive scream sounded as the humongous bolt of energy tore through the Infested flesh clogging the docking apertures as if it wasn't even there. Karen stared from the holes where she could see her ship and Aeron's approaching back to the bot which stood there, its massive weapon smoking. Then it jumped and she bit back a scream as one of Lephantis' heads came up through the floor where it had just been.

 _Move!_ Aeron called as the floor under them rumbled. Karen rolled and ran as the floor buckled. She and Aeron made it to the holes and had to wait for their ships to fully dock. Both stared back at Lephantis, weapons ready. Then both went still in astonishment at the sight that met them.

"You will take no more lives this day!" The strange being on the back of the Ambulas called as his Vasto roared. It should have been a pitiful weapon against such a beast, but Lephantis roared as it bit deep into a vulnerable spot. Aeron took aim as well, but the head had closed up. The other head was swinging a massive blade made of flesh, but the Ambulas unit avoided it nimbly. Again, the Vasto roared and the rider's aim was uncanny. Whoever he was, he was _good!_ He had almost Tenno level skill with that pistol.

Karen was out of ammunition for her Snipetron Vandal so she had her Brakk out and aimed, but at this range, she would little more than tickle the beast. She wasn't about to get any closer, she wasn't stupid. She heard her ship latch. She saw Aeron jerk as well. They could go. But...their rescuer… He shot the Infested head and it fell to lay still.

"Go!" The man or whatever he was called. "This foul evil doer will face justice! Either from my pistol or from Silver's mighty hooves. This is not your fate! Go!"

Again the pistol roared and Karen stared as the head that aped a Grineer simply exploded. She did scream as the floor fell out from under the Ambulas unit. She darted forward with Aeron at her side. She stood at the edge of a huge pit like Lephantis preferred to make in its nests. The music got louder and faster and explosions sounded even as Karen stared down at chaos.

Lephantis was the second largest known mass of Infested flesh in the solar system, It was big, powerful and heavily armored. It was also slow and ungainly compared to any Tenno and the Ambulas unit was far faster and more agile. Even as Karen stared, the cannon atop the bot fired again and one of the heads blew up. It hadn't been open! It hadn't been vulnerable! Had it?

 _What the hell?_ Karen asked as the battle unfolded below.

 _We need to go._ Aeron laid a hand on her arm. _Jordas is moving._ Indeed, she could feel the vibrations as the ship sized Infested started to move, never a good thing when that happened.

 _But…_ Karen waved at the form just as another head blew up. The small figure atop the bot was firing almost nonstop with his pistol. He seemed to hit everything he aimed at.

 _I don't think he needs our help._ Aeron said dryly as the last head fell and Lephantis disintegrated. _And he can hear us._

That wasn't supposed to be possible. Tenno close range communication was supposed to be secure. If it wasn't… That wasn't good for any number of reasons.

"Worry not, fair citizens." Karen jerked back as the Ambulas unit jumped right out of the pit to land in front of them. But its weapon was not aimed at them and the rider's pistol had vanished. "Only those who fear justice should fear me."

He reached down to Karen and something dropped from his hand. She caught it instinctively. It was a small round, probably for the pistol he used. But the tip, the bullet...was that _silver_? He tipped his hat to her and then the Ambulas unit spun on its heels and darted away. Karen was sure her jaw hit the floor and she was sure Aeron was just as stunned as the Ambulas unit took another pair of steps and vanished in the haze of an Orokin portal.

"Hiyo Silver! Away!"

The two Tenno stared at each other and then ran for this ships. But both had the same though on their minds.

 _What the hell?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Belief**

"Look, I _know_ it wasn't possible, but it _happened!_ You saw my records and Karen's!"

It was very tense in the examination room of the medical ward inside the Tenno Dojo that the clan called Karl's Shadow called home. Aeron wasn't happy. Karen wasn't happy. The Warlord wasn't happy, but all of that paled beside _Iriana's_ unhappiness. At least it wasn't wrath.

"What you saw could not have happened." Iriana said flatly. "You and Karen were both hit by whatever hit Percival."

She gave a tiny sob and both Tenno in the room bowed their heads. Percival hadn't been recoverable. His energy had been mangled by whatever the monstrous Infested had done. Even the best of Tenno medics needed something to work with and there was nothing. Their brother was not coming back. His energy was there, but it wasn't _him_ anymore. It would never coalesce into Tenno patterns again.

"So... What?" Aeron was careful to keep his temper in check as Iriana scanned him again. She had been quite adamant about him not stepping off the plate that let he scanners work around him even when their surrounding beams bothered him. "We _imagined_ it? The records are right there." He waved at the bank of computers nearby and Iriana made a face.

"Yes, but they don't make any _sense_." Iriana said with a sigh as she finished her work. "An Ambulas mech cannot carry a rider. It was not designed to do so. Add to that, it is a Corpus mech. Aeron." She said with a frown. "Why are you not angry?"

A fair question. Aeron hated the Corpus with every fiber of his being. His previous clan had fallen to a Corpus ambush and only he remained of them. His anger was still a danger, but he was far better at controlling it now than he had been. He wouldn't say it to her face, but her glowing eyes were very intimidating. No one had been able to figure out why they did, they just did and it freaked a lot of people out.

"I don't know." Aeron admitted "He wasn't hostile. If anything, he was _polite_!" The male Tenno made a disgusted noise. "Which makes no sense at _all_." He complained.

"I know." Iriana patted the distraught male Tenno's shoulder gently. He wasn't normally a touchy-feely kind of Tenno, but Iriana was a law unto herself and he had learned. Oh, had he ever. "Neither you nor Karen are on duty until the Elders have talked to you." Aeron made a face, but Iriana shook her head. "We need to know what that monstrosity did. Your records and your impressions are the only evidence we have. This...oddity will be investigated."

"Oddity." Aeron repeated. "Yeah, it was _damn_ odd." He slumped a little. "We were dead, Iriana. We had no way out and it was only a matter of time." Iriana looked at him, her face bleak. "I am not too proud to admit I was scared. For so long, I wasn't afraid of death. But now? Jac, Karen and the kids… I was afraid."

"Brianna is almost done with Karen. Will you talk to her?" Iriana asked.

"Will _you_?" Aeron asked slyly and the Healer made another face.

"You know I will." The Healer said quietly. "Between you all, the Caretakers, the Elders and _random Tenno on the street_ , I cannot _help_ but talk to her. Bunch of _nags_ , the _lot_ of you."

"Only because we care." Aeron said with a small frown. Every Tenno who knew of her knew that Iriana pushed herself too hard. _Few_ outside of the dojo knew that Iriana had _literally_ worked herself to _death_ a short time back. Total systemic collapse was no joke at all. She had been brought back from it, but still...

"I know." Iriana stared at the floor. "I am sure the Warlord will find something to keep you both busy. If all else fails, you will be available to help Diana with Janna." She smirked as Aeron groaned.

Janna was Iriana's adopted daughter. Though an unfortunate series of events, the human she had once been had wound up intertwined with Iriana's mind and had changed significantly as a result. Becoming a brand new Tenno was no weirder than anything else that had happened around this clan recently, so they just rolled with it. She was smart, dedicated and willing to put in the effort to learn. That said, she was not overly endowed with common sense much of the time. The upside was that her sponsor Diana was a _very_ good Tenno who had her well in hand most of the time. The downside? When Janna screwed up, it was usually fairly spectacular. The Warlord had banned her from the obstacle course after she had wound up in Medical three times in three days. Once with a fractured faceplate on her warframe, which wasn't _supposed_ to be possible.

"She is chafing." Iriana sighed a little and Aeron nodded. "She wants to learn it all now and it doesn't work like that. She has to have the foundation set before she builds on it and she doesn't want to take the time."

"Honestly, doc, what she really wants is to help." Aeron said with a shrug. "She sees us come back all messed up and wants to help keep us standing in the field. But she cannot. She isn't ready and won't be for some time no matter how well Diana trains her."

"And she knows it." Iriana heaved a sigh. "She is young but she is also smart." She paused and grimaced. "Most of the time. Now if only she could temper the smarts with some sense."

"I don't know what I can do about that, doc." Aeron stretched out carefully when Iriana motioned that he could move from the scanner. "I am not overly endowed with common sense myself sometimes."

"You don't _say!_ " Iriana scoffed as Aeron made a rude gesture her way. But then she shook her head. "I did see what you tried to do for Karen. I um… I might have done the same for Janna or Mishka."

"Yeah." For once, Aeron had no snarky comeback. What he had done had been crazy, but he did love Karen. No one blamed him for that. Or, more accurately, no one in the _clan_. "I will talk to Brianna when she is free. Anything out of the ordinary?"

"No." Iriana mused. "And that worries me. You, Karen, Oia and Lars were all hit by the same energy that killed Percival. If Karen hadn't revived you when she did..." The Healer slumped a bit.

"Warrior Tenno do not die in bed, doc." Aeron was very quiet.

"I know." Iriana gave another tiny sob and Aeron laid a hand on her arm. "We nearly lost you both today and I am scared. I guess I was deluding myself that Tenno were immortal and invincible. I know better. Intellectually, I know exactly how fragile we are even in warframes."

"As Janna keeps trying her darndest to prove." Aeron smirked as Iriana strangled a chuckle.

"That she does." Iriana managed after a moment. "I will talk to Brianna."

"Has the Warlord had any luck finding another medic?" Aeron asked.

Iriana and Brianna did everything they could, but they were essentially the only full time medical staff the dojo had. Jimmy and Kat were trained, but they were not fully trained or trusted. Brianna focused on mental issues while Iriana was more a generalist. Alicia was the clan's combat medic and also a generalist, but she was in the field a lot, not available. The only other medic was not one that anyone was ever going to talk about outside the clan. Bastet's existence was not common knowledge and was not going to be.

"She is looking." Iriana shook her head. "We have applicants. Lots of applicants. But not many pass the security checks. Of those, none who are medically trained have gotten past Tiana's vetting except Carlos."

"Yeah." Aeron grunted. Carlos wouldn't stay. Too many memories of his sister around this dojo.

The clan had far too many secrets that could not be spoken anywhere outside the dojo. Tenno were far more disciplined than humans had ever been, but in the end, they were mix of personalities just like humans. There were some Tenno who could be trusted to keep secrets, no matter how wonderful or terrible. There were others who simply could not stop blabbing them. The clan simply couldn't take the chance. If the Grineer or Corpus, -hell, even the Elders!- found out about some of the things the clan hid, it would not end well. Most of the Elders knew about Avalon now, it hadn't been possible to hide forever and everyone knew it. But if the Grineer or Corpus figured out that a tiny fragment of Orokin still existed, the _best_ thing that could happen was a bloodbath.

And if _anyone_ figured out who _Kat_ had been? Bad didn't _begin_ to cover that.

"Janna helps." Iriana said with a sigh. "Kat and Jimmy do what they can. And I do take breaks." She frowned as the door opened and a familiar form flew in to hover by her shoulder. The Djinn sentinel beeped at her urgently. "Speaking of. Yes, I know, TW1-K1. Break time." Her voice was sour.

"Better go." Aeron smiled at the Healer's disgusted expression. "Don't want Janna to get motherly again, do we?"

"Don't encourage her!" Iriana pleaded as she strode for the door, the sentinel that was her minder as well as her protector at her shoulder. "I will rest. Please talk to Brianna."

"My next stop." Aeron promised. The Healer smiled and then she was gone.

He stared after the Healer for a moment, a bit pensive. Iriana was a rock most of the time, but her recent experiences had shattered her own foundation and left her reeling. The clan stood for her and with her, but she was not ever going to be who she had been before. Before Janna. Before she had died. The clan's preeminent sniper might have been considered cold and unemotional by many because he worked to hard to stay calm, but he did know sadness on seeing the Healer so reduced from what she had been. She was still kind, cheerful and very good at what she did, but now, there was undercurrent of fatigue, of sadness. Of despair.

Aeron wished he could help her, but he was sniper, a warrior, a taker of lives, not a builder or fixer. He shook his head and exited the scanner room to find Medical almost deserted. Everyone was busy with missions and the most recent excitement. Kat nodded to the sniper from where the medic was working on something and Aeron returned it. He had no real misgivings. He would watch the Tenno, everyone did, but Kat wasn't who he had been. Aeron hadn't wanted to accept that, but he had eventually. It had helped that Kat didn't really trust himself and had demanded full time surveillance _on_ himself. If it was a trick, it was a darn good one.

"Is she resting?" Aeron asked as he strode up to the desk.

"Yep." Kat made a face and Aeron shook his head.

"You dosed her tea again, didn't you?" The sniper asked warily. Kat just looked at him. "You know how she reacted _last_ time."

"I didn't." Kat spread empty hands. "I was sitting right here. I learned my lesson." Aeron made a face, Iriana's rage had been something to see. From a safe distance that was.

"She needs _less_ stress, not _more_." Aeron groaned and Kat made a face that matched his feelings. "And missing a shift stresses her."

"Yeah." Kat looked at the wall, but he wasn't seeing it. "I am scared, Aeron. I really am. She can't stop. She is obsessed with healing now and she cannot stop. The _only_ time she sleeps enough is when someone drugs her. She talks to Brianna, to me, but..." The other male Tenno slumped in his chair. "I am scared."

"Me too." Aeron admitted. "We already lost her once. So many hits. So many hurts. So many shocks would tear anyone apart. Even her. She puts on a brave face, but she cannot keep this up. If the Warlord relieves her from duty..." Aeron trailed off as Kat made a sad noise.

"She will go mad." Kat finished. "Her work is the only thing holding her together. And if those quacks in the secure psyche unit get hold of her..." He gulped as Aeron stared at him. "You… haven't heard?"

"That unit was disbanded because they messed things up so badly." Aeron said slowly. "Serene, Dust, Michelle… They would have locked _me_ up too."

"I know." Kat said in a very small voice. "I would have wound up there myself. Hell, many of us here would be considered less than sane." He chuckled a little and Aeron shared it.

"Yeah. I can just imagine their reaction to _Ric_." The sniper said with a snort.

"Their ward couldn't _hold_ him." Kat snickered. "Nothing can hold a pissed off engineer. Nothing."

"So very true." Aeron sighed and shook his head. "If you didn't dose her, who did?"

"I didn't actually see anyone do it." Kat said with a small smile. "But then again, I don't see Diana around a lot. I think she sneaks just to do it."

"She does it to keep in practice." Aeron shrugged. "We may never have to call upon her specialized skills, but then again, we may."

While many Tenno served as assassins, Diana had been a _professional_ one. Her skill level in stealth and stealthy combat was unreal and frankly? More than bit scary. Add to that her Saryn warframe and if she ever went off the deep end, no one would be safe. No one.

"If we ever find the origination of me, then yeah. We might send her." Kat said darkly.

They hadn't been able to keep Kat's past from him. He was far smarter than he let on on most of the time. That said, he _also_ wasn't bound by the oaths his other had sworn whatever they might have been. As soon as he had figured it out, he had gone to the Warlord and Iriana, confessed his knowledge and _demanded_ that they lock him up. Both had refused. He was part of the clan and he wasn't the being he had been copied from.

"We might." Aeron agreed. "She would do it and make sure of it but for now? She has her hands full with Janna." He eyed Kat as the seated male made another face. "What is Janna up to now?"

"She has been pestering Cathi Gata to try out an Archwing." Kat said with a frown. Aeron froze and Kat shook his head. "Not a chance. Not without Iriana's consent, which she is not going to get." Aeron stared at him and Kat chuckled. "She tried pestering _me_ , but I know better than to irritate Iriana."

"Most of us do." Aeron mused and then smirked. "That said… has she been through zero g training yet?" Kat stared at him and then the seated Tenno's eyes lit as well.

"No." Kat's eyes were twinkling now. "You know. That is an oversight and since it would be handled entirely inside the dojo, and under strict supervision, we can do that." His grin turned downright evil.

"Before we do _anything_ , check with Tiana and Diana." Aeron cautioned. "She is Diana's responsibility and Tiana has the ultimate authority. I am stuck here for a while with Karen, so we can set it up."

"Set what up?" Karen asked as she appeared nearby. She was not wearing her warframe, it like Aeron's was being scrutinized. Brianna followed the female Tenno into view, shaking her head at something in her hand. Aeron looked at her and she smiled, but looked a question at him.

"Janna has been bugging Cathi Gata about learning to fly." Kat said with a shrug. "Gotta admit, Cathi Gata is the best flier here when Li isn't."

"She makes it look so easy." Karen agreed as she moved to stand beside Aeron. "And Janna is chafing under all of the rules. Just like I did."

"You stopped?" Brianna asked even as Aeron was about to ask the same. Karen blushed a little but nodded. "You have come a long way, Karen."

"Between you, Iriana and the Gunny, I didn't have a _choice_." Karen grinned a little, but it hadn't been a laughing matter at the time. "I will have demons for the rest of my days, but I am better and I can serve." She paused as she thought about what had been said. "Wait… You two… She hasn't had zero -G training, has she?" Aeron and Kat both shook their heads, grinning. Karen rubbed her hands together, cackling manically. "This is going to be fun!"

"Karen." Brianna said mildly. "Don't do that. I… My replacement won't know your sense of humor."

At her words, everyone froze. Kat slowly reached out to take the slip from her. She did not stop him. He stared at it and then hissed.

"Brianna, we -the clan cannot allow this." Kat said softly. He handed the slip to Aeron who took it and saw an order to report for 'psychiatric examination'. If someone were to read Brianna's mind, they would have access to every secret the clan had!

"I know." Brianna said softly as Karen hugged her. "It is probably a clandestine attempt to ferret out information under the guise of 'helping' me. But I did fail Serene, Amelia, Karl..." She slumped a bit. "Iriana is not the only one fraying."

"It won't happen." Aeron said firmly. "It won't. We will talk to the Elders. _They_ understand if anyone does."

"It is not going to happen." Karen said with a growl. "If needed, I will take it to my other chain of command.

Everyone tensed at that. Karen's rank of PFC was fairly low for a soldier. She wasn't a soldier. She was an Orokin _Marine_ as well as Tenno and she answered to the Empress as well as Tiana. No one else.

"We have a mystery to solve too." Aeron mused. "That guy… It _did_ happen." He looked at Brianna who nodded. "And I need to talk to you about it."

"Then let's do this." Brianna started for her office, Aeron following. But her posture was slumped, almost beaten.

 _We need help._ _This isn't something I can shoot._ Aeron mused as he followed the mind healer.

 _We_ **all** _need help._


	3. Chapter 3

**Good?**

"Diana is okay with it. Go for it." Tiana smiled at the screen where Karen was literally rubbing her hands together in glee. "Just remember, it is supposed to be _training_ , not _torture_."

"Yes Warlord." Karen said with a nod, but her smile did not fade.

Tina was shaking her head as she shut the come down. She turned back to the being who stood in the middle of what passed for her office and shook her head again. "Sorry about that."

"At least they asked you first." The other female Tenno said mildly. "That was Karen, no?"

"Yes, it was." Tiana kept her face blank. "I don't know what you have heard."

"Gossip always grows in the telling." The other shrugged. "If half of what I have heard about your clan were true, none of you would have survived the first time Nikis appeared here." Tiana grimaced and the other nodded. "He has _no_ patience for some things."

"True." Tiana knelt back to the pad she had risen from when Karen had called and the other did the same. They faced one another in seiza. When the other had asked for this meeting, Tiana at first hadn't wanted to grant it. She was still angry and she knew it but the clan was in trouble. Iriana was in trouble. She looked at the other and kept her mouth shut.

The former Elder in front of her knew what was wrong and spoke up.

"You have a right to your anger." Grina said quietly. "I wronged you and your clan more than once. I can make no excuse for my actions except that I was distracted. When Eran died, I lost focus on everything but the need to keep such from happening again. And before you say it, yes, I have a pragmatic reason for this request as well. I don't want to go back into the secure psyche unit's idea of care again." She shuddered.

"You would think they would have learned after what happened with Serene." Tiana said with a frown. "With Dust."

"The morons count Dust a success." Grina said with a growl. Tiana stared at her and the to her shrugged. "He was functional when he came out."

"He didn't remember his own _name!_ " Tiana protested. "Nikis nearly blew the entire colony to pieces for what they did to him. What kind of a success is _that_?"

"We are in total agreement." Grina grimaced. "But according to _them_ , he was alive and functional. They don't _care_ if their patients are sane as long as they can _function_." She sighed. "Iriana calls them quacks and that is a good description. The _only_ good thing about so much time to sit was that I read up on genetics. I studied what I did to myself and figured out where I went wrong. I documented my findings and put them in the archives. Hopefully, no one else will ever have to go through this."

"You are asking me -us- to give you sanctuary." Tiana said flatly.

"Yes." Grina nodded. "You need another medic. I was a medic before I was an Elder. My security clearances are valid again even though my access to records, arsenals and communications have been suspended. Probably permanently. You will not trust me and I can accept that. I will accept whatever rules or restrictions you demand. I was not a Warrior for very long, so I cannot swear a Warrior's oaths and be taken seriously. But… Please don't let them take me again. I saw Eran's face on the walls, the ceiling… I _cannot_ do that _again_."

The naked fear in Grina's eyes shook Tiana although she kept her face blank.

"Iriana would be the one to vet you and you hurt her when you did what you did to Michelle." Tiana shook her head. "The _less_ said about what Aeron would do if he saw you, the better. You tore the embryo that became his kids from his wife's belly." It had worked out in the end, but still...

"Brianna, Ric and Olim also have bad memories of me." Grina agreed. "All the good that I did before Eran was hurt was undone by the bad that I did after. No one will trust me. No one will let me try for penance."

She glanced to the side and shuddered. The grim form that stood by the door had not moved since Tiana had ushered Grina into the office. The Harrow warframe was fully armed even here. Tiana hadn't been enthused with letting him into the dojo that way, but he was authorized. He was one of Grina's guards. He hadn't spoken at all since arriving, so Tiana wasn't sure if he could. Grina was not visibly restrained, but the Harrow's presence showed that the Elders took her incarceration _very_ seriously even now.

"I hated you." Tiana said slowly. "Hate was something I knew very well before Karl found me and took me on a ride that would change my life completely. You were the enemy of my clan and if I had been given a shot at you, I would have taken it." She shook her head. "Times change and situations do too but this clan's hate will not vanish."

"I see." Grina said softly.

"That said, your clearances _are_ current and you _do_ have medical training." Tiana said, manifestly against her will. Grina stared at her, hope rising in the former Elder's eyes. "You know how to keep a secret and frankly? Who would _believe_ you if you started spreading stories about us?"

"True." Grina slumped a bit more. "So… what?" She asked when Tiana did not comment.

"This is not a choice I can make on my own. This is not a normal recruitment." Tiana said after a few minutes of thought. "You have wronged us all. You nearly started a clan war." She said with a scowl. Grina nodded silent. "That said, I wouldn't leave a _Lanx_ in the quacks' custody if I had a choice. I will put it to the others. I do not know what they will say."

" _I_ wouldn't give me a chance." Grina said softly. "But your clan has always been better than I acted."

"We will see." Tiana said with a shake of her head. "You will be assigned quarters while you are here and you will be watched at all times."

"Warlord Tiana." Grina said softly. "Several Tenno asked me to report whatever I saw here." Tiana nodded. "You have drawn a lot of attention. That is not good."

"None of them were Elders." Not a question.

"No." Grina replied. "But once is happenstance. Twice? Coincidence. Three times is usually enemy action. There were more than three requests." Tiana nodded, silent and Gina relaxed a little. "I am glad you are not surprised."

"Tenno are as curious as any other group." Tiana replied, noncommittal.

"That we are." Grina shook her head. "We also can cause far more damage, far more quickly than any other group. I do not know what you guard, but whatever it is, I bet it cannot be shared for a reason." Tiana just looked at her and Grina made a face. "I know the Caretakers were here. Others do too."

Tiana did not miss the Harrow warframe's sudden tension, but she did not comment. Grina did not notice since her focus was on Tiana.

"They are not here now and we have had the dojo swept several times. Once by Nikis himself." Tiana said mildly, her focus on both Grina and the Harrow who nodded slightly and relaxed a little. "They needed a safe haven for a short time. Karl offered it." Just speaking his name hurt a little even though she knew he wasn't totally gone. "As soon as it was safe for them, they left and we have no idea where they went."

"Good." Grina said quietly. Tiana stared at her and the former Elder smiled, but there was little humor in it. "I did some research on the term 'Caretaker'. They enforced the quarantine on the people who survived the purges but were exposed. Killing them was not always an option, so… The quarantine."

"Not a fun job." Tiana replied.

"No." Grina made a face. "Every Tenno knows about Infested. Even those of us who do not follow the Warrior's path are brought up with the old tales. The legends of the First." Again, Tiana just looked at he ran now, the former Elder looked decidedly amused. "Are you going to deny that you have ties to the Citadel?"

"I know better than to push Rachel at all." Tiana said with more force than she had intended. Grina stiffened and then nodded.

"She wouldn't take kindly to that, no." Grina said after a moment. "I have never met her myself, but I have heard a few things. Especially when Mavri came back and said he had been there." Naked longing sounded in her tone and Tiana shook her head. Grina held up a hand before Tiana could speak. "I know. I would love to visit there, but I know I would never be welcome."

"Few are." Tiana replied. "I am not one of them generally. And of those few? None of them did what you did both in precipitating the conflict you did and altering yourself."

"Even as far down as I went, I wasn't going to do this to another Tenno." Grina said in a small voice. "What I did to Michelle and Iriana was bad enough and I don't even _remember_ doing that. I did it. I know I did from the records and from the testimonies from my trial. I was just so angry. At Karl. At Iriana. At Aeron and everyone. That is no excuse, but still… I did it. Iriana won't forgive it."

"I don't know." Tiana was quiet. "Even if she did, Michelle might not. And even if Michelle did?" She broke off before she said what first came to mind. "Others won't." She corrected herself. Eliza certainly would not forgive or forget, but Tiana was not about to let anyone know who -and what!- Eliza was.

"I don't expect that. I certainly do not expect trust." Grina said with a nod. "All I want to do is try to pay some of what I owe. To Iriana. To Michelle. To others. This is the only place I might be able to."

"I will put it to the clan and see what they say. The discussion will likely be loud." Tiana said with a frown. "You will be in the guest quarters with your guards until we decide one way or another. Safer for you than wandering the halls."

"Yes, Warlord Tiana." Grina bowed her head and then rose as Tiana did. She turned towards the door, but when she started for it, the Harrow warframe did not move. She paused and he shook his head, waving at the door. She looked confused, but continued to the door. It opened and a white Titania warframe stood there. The other guard looked curiously at Tiana who nodded.

"Guest quarters for now." The Warlord said with a nod. "I cannot guarantee her safety anywhere else. You wish to discuss something?" She asked the Harrow. He nodded, but the Titania warframe made strangled noise.

"Good luck." The other female Tenno said with a snort as she took hold of Grina's arm. "He swore an oath of silence."

"There are many ways to communicate." Tiana replied as the mismatched female Tenno strode off towards the guest quarters. Not that it was far, but Tiana did worry about Grina running into say… Aeron. That wouldn't be fun. Or pretty. The door hissed closed and She stiffened as a voice came from the Harrow.

"I didn't actually swear. They think I did." The Harrow knelt and nodded to Tiana. "It cuts down on the dumb questions."

"So… You lie to everyone." Tiana said mildly as she knelt as well.

"I mislead them." The male Tenno chuckled. "To lie, I would have to speak, no?"

"What do you want?" Tiana asked, suddenly weary.

"Grandmaster Nikis is very worried about Iriana." The other said quietly. Tiana stared at him and he nodded. "I work with him a lot."

"Nikis doesn't work with _anybody!_ " Tiana scoffed and then stiffened as the other nodded. "Except the-" Her words broke off as her mind slithered to a halt.

"Except the Guardians of the Dead of which he is the eldest and wisest." The other replied. "Not always the easiest to deal with, but _easily_ the most powerful."

"I thought Guardians wore Nekros warframes." Tiana said softly.

"We do. Regulars and Primes." The other shrugged. "But we are not chained to them exclusively. Can you _imagine_ Nikis' reaction to someone telling him that he has to do something or worse, that he _cannot_ do something?" He actually shuddered and Tiana shared it. "None of us are _that_ clueless, tradition be damned."

Tiana could imagine that actually. She had seen the ancient Nekros gunfighter pissed off more than once. She really didn't want to see it again.

"Good!" Tiana exclaimed with feeling. "So… what do you need? I didn't get your name."

"I didn't give it and for the insult, I apologize." The other bowed from the neck. "I am Martin. The Elders don't know I am a Guardian. I was available when Grina asked to come talk to you and frankly? Even Nikis might balk at dropping her in the quacks' care again."

"He has cause." Tiana bowed her head and she knew Martin did the same.

"That he does." Martin sighed. "Thing is, Nikis was not just worried about Iriana. He was worried about us too."

"What?" Tiana's head jerked up and the Harrow's faceplate met her gaze.

"He said that your clan knows more about the database than anyone else outside of Avalon." His casual dropping of that location did nothing to alleviate Tiana's sudden tension. He held up a hand. "We knew about it. We knew about the Citadel and many other things, but our oaths to protect the database took priority. And now? Nikis has a _grandkid_..." He shook his head. "I don't feel right about the Caretakers. They deal with Infested in some way other than fighting and that makes me very uneasy. I am not alone in that feeling."

"Most Tenno feel the same way." Tiana wasn't sure where this was going.

"Nikis keeps secrets like nobody's business." Martin said with a nod. "No one will ever know most of what he does and that is the way it has to stay. He said that the Caretakers are doing a good thing and refused to say more. Not that _any_ of us dared press him on that."

"That is because you are _smart_." Tiana said with feeling and Martin nodded with a chuckle.

"Even some rocks know better than to irritate that asshole gunfighter." Martin agreed. "To be a Guardian, you _have_ to be smarter than a rock." His humor fled. "Not all Tenno are."

"I don't want to know this, do I?" Tiana asked hesitantly.

"No." Martin blew out a deep breath and nodded. "But you must. There are several who are taking cases to the Elders. Cases that say the Caretakers have been Infested and must be purged."

"No." Tiana swallowed hard. "They haven't been! That is the whole _idea_ of the Caretakers. No one takes the virus as seriously as they do. No one."

"It gets worse." Martin said with a sigh. "Nikis made us swear not to get involved. He wouldn't tell us _why_ , but he doesn't do things like that without a damn good reason. He values our flexibility. We were adrift when the database was put into hibernation. After so long protecting it, making sure the shades didn't leave it… Suddenly..." He paused as Tiana hissed.

"You had no duty." Tiana made a face. "Oh crap."

"Yeah." Martin replied. "Oh crap. If Nikis hadn't done what he did, when he did, we might have gotten involved in the case against the Caretakers."

"They just want to be left alone." Tiana said weakly. "No matter what anyone may say, they do not infest people."

"They have been seen on several occasions, taking people who might have been Infested and vanishing with them." Martin was quiet, considering. "And there is another working with them now. A Tenno who wears an Ash warframe that no one knows."

"His name is Janas." Tiana countered.

"And I do know where he came from, but we cannot simply tell people who he was or _what_ , can we?" Martin asked. "The mess with Cathi Gata was bad enough." He snorted a laugh. "Not every day you see _Sun_ in _courtroom_."

"One for the record books indeed." Tiana snorted in matching dark amusement. "So… what?"

"I am rudderless, Warlord Tiana." Martin said with a nod. "The Guardians still ward the database, but with it mostly shut down and all the accesses hidden, there is no call for as many of us as there were for so long. Some of us have formed clans, some of us have taken to mercenary work as distasteful as that is. I wasn't sure what to do. I am not sure how Nikis would react to me being here." Tiana stiffened and Martin was quick to reassure her. "He wouldn't _mind_ , I don't think. If such had worried him, he would have warned us all off of asking. He didn't."

"And if he _does_?" Tiana asked carefully.

"I suggest we try a probationary period." Martin said with a nod. "That way, we can see if the clan will accept me and if Nikis has any problems with it. That might take a while though. He is off doing something. He wouldn't say what, just that he would be gone for while."

"How long?" Tiana asked. "I mean, we just had something very weird happen and he might be the best person to ask about it."

"Weird?" Martin asked, his sudden tension clear to the Warlord.

"Yeah. Weird in my own experience is rarely a good thing too. But..." She reached for a pouch hidden under her robes and pulled out the tiny thing that Karen had brought back. "This has been scanned. It is an ancient round for a small pistol."

She held it out to Martin who took it and stared at it.

"You are right." Martin mused. "Ancient indeed. A .45 round if I am not mistaken. But this metal is not lead as was most common for… that..." He trailed off and jerked. "Oh my god."

"What?" Tiana asked, tension flaring.

"The bullet is made of silver." Martin said flatly. "Where did you get this?"

This wasn't an applicant to the clan speaking now. _This_ was a Guardian of the Dead. He wasn't in Nikis' class in sheer terror, but was scary all by his lonesome.

"Two of my clan were trapped and rescued by… something." Tiana said with a wince. "We have no idea what it was. Or why it appeared. But whoever it was gave that to one of my clan."

"You are joking." Martin stared form her to the bullet. She shook her head. "You are not?" He demanded, incredulous. "Oh dear."

"What is it?" Tiana asked. "I mean, besides a silver bullet."

"Nikis was born as a human in a place called Texas." Martin said slowly and carefully. "I have no idea where that was or what happened to it. What I _do_ know is that Nikis' childhood hero was a fictional character called the Lone Ranger. He used silver bullets and always appeared in the nick of time to save the day."

"That is not possible." Tiana said with a wince. "If someone is _playing_ with this… With _Nikis_..."

"People are going to die." Martin agreed.

" _Lots_ of people."


	4. Chapter 4

**Discussions**

She was expecting cries of rage. Shouts. Screams. _Something._

Instead, once Tiana finished speaking, everyone was just staring at her. There was utter silence in the secure room of the dojo where the clan had crowded in. It was larger than it had been, help from various sources had allowed the clan to expand the dojo in many ways, but it was still crowded with so many Tenno and others. She hadn't been about to keep anyone in the clan in the dark. Brianna, Vina, Mercedes and Miguel might be human, but they _were_ part of the clan. Kat wasn't in the room and he had flatly refused to be included. He didn't trust himself enough.

All eyes turned from Tiana to Iriana who flushed. The Healer looked at a loss for words. Janna stood by her shoulder, her face pale, but her posture sure.

"Iriana, you and Jac were hurt the worst by what she did." Tiana kept her voice calm and quiet, although at the time she had been anything but calm. "I will be talking to Jac at some point soon, but for now? Only you have the right to deny it out of hand."

"No." Everyone stiffened as Aeron spoke. "I… Jac and I have talked about this. Don't throw it all on Iriana. She has enough worries."

"You have a right to anger, Aeron. So does Jac. So does Michelle." Tiana made a face. "I do _not_ look forward to talking to Eliza about this."

More than one person in the crowded room winced at that. Eliza was a very good ruler, dedicated to her people's survival above almost all else. But she was _also_ Michelle's mother and had a vengeful streak a kilometer wide when crossed. And when the Empress of Orokin took a dislike to someone? Bad things happened to that person.

"What Grina did was beyond the pale." Iriana said into the silence that followed Tiana's words. "What she did to Jac, to Michelle, to me..." She shook her head. "But you do make a good point, Warlord. The secure psyche unit is not a place of healing. They lock people up and forget about them. Most of us here have been considered for that fate at times. Karl told them to go fly a kite more than once."

At that, everyone chuckled but it was sad. Everyone missed Karl. Even if he wasn't completely gone, he wasn't the same Tenno he had been. They all understood that, but it was still sad.

"None of us have his seniority, but we have managed to muddle through anyway." Tiana smiled at the Healer who smiled a little wanly back. "They are not locking _any_ of us up in there." She turned to the four humans in their midst and nodded to Brianna. "I have already sent a notice to the Elders requesting clarification of that message. They are not taking you."

Not scream could have been more final than Tiana's cold words.

"Thank you." Brianna said in a very small voice. "I… I am conflicted here. I saw both sides of her. She was evil on occasion. But _why_ she was doing what she was doing… I..." She slumped a bit. "If I had a son, I might done the same."

No one would meet her eyes and then, wonder of wonders, Aeron stepped carefully to her side.

"You know Jac forgave you." Aeron didn't touch her, didn't do anything but stand there, but she recoiled a little anyway. "I was rude to you. Hyper aggressive doesn't begin to cover it."

"I hurt your wife." Brianna said in a monotone. "We _kidnapped_ your wife. We didn't mean to, she wasn't supposed to be there. We tried not to hurt her, but we did." Tears were falling now and she shook her head. "We could have killed your kids."

"You didn't." Aeron sighed and slowly reached out a hand to take Brianna's. "I am not good with emotions. I doubt I will ever be. But if Carl or Elizabeth were hurt and I could do anything to help? I would and damn the cost." Brianna nodded jerkily. He turned his head to look at the open mouthed Healer. "Iriana, you need help."

"I do." Iriana slowly shook her head. "I am still angry with her. I don't think that will ever change. She violated almost every medical ethic we had even before she injected me with Infested flesh." _Everyone_ shuddered at that. "That said, we cannot let them lock her up. If they supervise it properly, they won't let her go mad. But I have been in the secure psyche unit. I was there with Serene. It is a horror for any Tenno to be locked up. She was trying to save her son and then trying to make something good come out of his loss. She went too far, no question. You know my feelings. I… do need help."

The admission hurt the Healer. Everyone could see that. Janna laid a hand on her mother's shoulder and Iriana covered it with her own.

"As the clan has expanded, we need more medical personnel." Tiana smiled at Iriana who returned it. "If we do taker her in, she will not be allowed access to armaments, records or to communications. That is the Elder's decree. We would need to do a full workup on her to make sure no one is using her as a plant of some kind. But honestly? She is scared. She is not faking her fear of being locked in a tiny room again."

She looked from Iriana to Aeron and both nodded slightly.

"I will make it probationary for now." Tiana said with a small frown. "I need to talk to Jac. And Eliza." She groaned as everyone nodded soberly.

That was going to be _so_ much _fun!_

* * *

Elsewhere

She did not resist. There was no point. She had no weapons, no warframe and now… no recourse. Her final appeal had been denied. The two guards who led her were not very harsh, but they knew what they were doing and between the restraints and their weapons, she had nowhere to go.

Tenno Isha knew she was lost. She had been lost since Grina had persuaded her to take part on the former Elder's mad schemes. It hadn't seemed mad at the time, but looking back? It had been. Hindsight was always clearer than foresight but nowhere remotely as valuable. Isha had been swayed by Grina's madness thoroughly and had taken part in actions that had very nearly started a war between Tenno clans. That had been bad enough, by then Nic, the other Tenno who had been with her… He…

Her thoughts broke off as the guards led her to a sealed door. She didn't bother to resist. She hadn't resisted at all the whole time. Only the legal representation given to her had delayed this at all. She was numb. She had been numb and would be numb. Part of her had died with Nic.

It had been such a rush to merge her mind with another Tenno's. No one had even thought about the long term risks, especially when Brianna and poor Kori had been helped so greatly by the psychiatric tools. No one had remembered that if one partner of a melded mind was killed in battle, the other felt it happen. Tenno should have known. Isha should have known. She hadn't even _liked_ Nic! He had been a jerk in so many ways.

The pair had been pardoned for their crimes against the clan they had wronged. Grina had accepted all responsibility for the actions taken even when Isha, Nic, Olim, Kori and Brianna had tried to take some of it themselves. She had thrown herself back into her work, Nic at her side. They had done marvels for the Tenno, but then, he had been killed and she had collapsed. If not for the rest of her team, she would have died there too.

She stared at the door that led to her future and shook her head slowly. She had to accept it. She wasn't going to get any better. Part of her had died with Nic and she wasn't going to get any better. If she accepted this, maybe she could move on? Maybe she could recover something of her life? Maybe. She wasn't ever going to be the same, that was abundantly clear. She knew Brianna hadn't suffered the same when Kori had died, maybe because Brianna was human? She didn't know.

Why was she suddenly hearing music? Dark music. Why did she think that? That made no sense.

She glanced from side to side but the door hadn't opened yet. Her guards were eyeing her with a mix of wariness and compassion.

"It is going to be all right, Tenno Isha." The male guard on her left said gently. "They will take care of you."

"You and I both know there is no coming back from this." Isha said in the only tone she had managed since Nic had died. A dead, lifeless tone. "I don't blame anyone but myself. This is all on me. I made my choice and I have to abide by the consequences."

The door was opening. Her fate was sealed. But…

She jerked as shadow appeared nearby! An odd shadow! It was too big and spiky to be human or Tenno. She could do nothing as the shadow reached out to grab one of the guards, a solid thud sounding as the guard hit the floor. She wasn't going to get up anytime soon.

The other guard recoiled with an oath as the shadow resolved into a human wearing some kind of dark costume. It was obviously armor, but it wasn't like any armor that Isha had ever seen. Some kind of helmet covered his head and came up to points on either side of his head. A long flowing garment hung from his shoulders but what drew the eyes was the golden metal belt that hung around his waist.

"What the-?" The conscious guard was fast. Even as he exclaimed, he hit the emergency alert button on his gear and alarms started blaring throughout the facility. "Who are _you_?"

"I am vengeance!" The voice from the other was all wrong in so many ways. As bad as Isha was, she could hear the tortured screams of the lost in that voice. "I am the night!"

The guard backpedaled reaching for his Lato, but the shadow was on him in an instant. Isha couldn't move, she was beyond terrified. But she was Tenno, mistress of her body and emotions, not their slave. She fought her recalcitrant tongue and managed to speak.

"No." Isha stared as the shadow man -whatever he was- laid the unconscious guard down and stared at her. "Don't hurt them. Blame me. Not them."

"All you have done is suffer." The other said sounded curious as shouts sounded from nearby. A spray of small objects flew from his hand and suddenly the corridor was engulfed in smoke. "Anyone can be misled."

"What I did was wrong." Isha said quietly as the shouts of anger turned to dismay from the smoke. "I hurt innocents. I..." Whatever had been holding her cracked and tears started falling for the first time since Nic had died. "Vengeance must be done."

She bowed her head and knelt. Waiting for a blow that never came. Instead, a hand grasped hers and she was suddenly flying. She gasped as she landed and rolled as best she could with her hands fettered. Despite landing on a metal surface, she was still Tenno and nothing broke as she rolled.

"What the _hell_?" An irate female voice sounded from nearby as Isha stared up at the dark man who had… what? Kidnapped her? Rescued her? His hand jerked and she froze as a shuriken of some kind tore through her restraints. He nodded to her, raised his arm, something went 'chunk' and he flew up into the air to vanish in a haze of gold.

Isha stared up after the odd whatever he had been. Only then did she look around. When she did, she froze solid. She was sitting on a portal platform, but it wasn't in a colony or in a Tower or anywhere else she knew. The markings on the walls were all Tenno, no Orokin art was anywhere that she could see. There were no frills, no extraneous decorations, although a couple of plants sat in different corners of the room. She didn't recognize the plants.

She _did_ recognize the form that stood near one wall, a Soma Prime rifle aimed at her. She didn't know the Tenno personally, but no one who saw one could mistake a Saryn Prime warframe for anything else. Isha slowly raised her hands and eased herself into a sitting position. She kept her hands still and tried not to quail as the Saryn glared at her.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Saryn demanded. "Who are you and where the hell did you come from?"

"My name is Isha." The seated Tenno said carefully. "I was being remanded into the secure psyche unit." She went totally still as the other hissed. In anger? In fear? What?

"Those quacks?" The other snapped. "Who the hell authorized them torturing more Tenno?"

"I don't know." Whatever had cracked the armor around Isha's emotions was gone now. She was numb again.

"Who else was here?" The Saryn demanded. "There was someone else. We detected another life form."

"I don't know." Isha said weakly as two more Tenno ran into the room, an Oberon Prime and a Volt Prime, both with weapons ready. "A man in black. Weird though. He wore some kind of costume. I don't know what it was. Who he was. Where he came from."

She did not move as scan beams swept over her. The Oberon was aiming as the Volt scanned her.

"What is wrong with you, Sister?" The Volt asked in a wary voice. "You sound off."

"Nic died." Isha said sadly. All three of the others stared at her. "You didn't hear about that?" She asked.

"We knew a Tenno named Nic who died." The Volt said slowly. "But I don't think we are talking about the same Nic. Why would another Tenno dying cause you to talk that way?"

"I don't know." Isha could not feel her emotions, and that was probably a good thing. "Nic and I were linked when he died and..." She broke off as all three of the others recoiled. "You understand." She said.

"Let me be sure I understand completely." The Volt said was still wary. "You were mind linked to another Tenno." Isha nodded. "He died and you survived." She nodded again. "Rachel..." The Volt groaned.

Isha felt a sudden leap in her mind. Rachel! A Saryn Prime that housed a Tenno named Rachel? She stared at the Saryn who had still not lowered her weapon and then around. The decor was Tenno, not Orokin, Tenno! She slumped. She was in the Citadel! The _First's_ _Citadel!_

"I didn't mean to come here." Isha tried to explain, tried to reassure the ones whose home she had just invaded. Her emotions were still locked. "I don't know how I got here. Send me back. I need to be confined."

"Rachel!" The Volt snapped when the Saryn did nothing but stare.

"She wasn't _alone_ , Roger!" Rachel retorted. "There was someone else here. We detected two life forms."

"What happened, sister?" The Oberon had lowered his Latron Prime rifle and now, he holstered it. He moved to stand beside her and then knelt despite Rachel's warning hiss. "You say your name is Isha? Kori mentioned you."

"Kori..." Isha felt a frisson within her again and then she was crying. " _KORI!_ " She screamed and suddenly the Oberon was holding her as she wept. "Kori..." She managed through her tears. "Why wasn't it me? Why?"

"I don't know." The Oberon sounded sad. "I have talked to a lot of people and I don't think anyone does. The Phoenix is both alive and aware. It chooses who it wills. It chose Kori." He gave a tiny sob and Isha, greatly daring, hugged him back.

"You have to send me back." Isha begged. "I am losing my mind."

"No, you are not." Roger snapped. "You are in shock." Isha stared at him and he shook his head. "Really? Lock someone up in a tiny cell for the rest of her life to cure something like this? _Morons!_ " He demanded angrily.

"They couldn't help me." Isha said weakly.

"We can." Roger actually growled at the Saryn when she did not lower her rifle. "Rachel, she didn't do this. She didn't open the portal. She was brought here and for this? We can fix this, Rachel. It will take time, but we can."

"She wasn't alone!" Rachel insisted.

"No. She wasn't." The Oberon sounded odd. Isha stared at him and _he_ was staring at the floor. Her gaze followed his and she saw the remains of her restraints lying there.

"I didn't do that!" Isha begged, but the Oberon hugged her again.

"No, you didn't." The Oberon shook his head. "But this… this stretches the limits of the possible well past the breaking point. A man in black, you said. He wore a cowl, a cape, and a golden belt." Not questions.

"How did you know that?" Isha asked, confused. She was even more confused when he pointed at the floor. Inside the mess that had been her retrains was a small metal thing. The shuriken? It was weird looking. She knew Tenno throwing weapons very well. She had used many kinds, but this was no Tenno throwing star. It had two points instead of three, but both looked razor sharp. It looked functional, but odd.

"What is that supposed to be?" Isha asked, even more confused and now more than bit frightened again. The Oberon gave her a squeeze.

"A bat."


	5. Chapter 5

**A little magical help**

Iriana was tired. So very tired.

She wasn't in pain now and for that she had nothing but gratitude for the ones who had helped her. She had gone too far and done too much, never realizing that she had pushed herself past even Tenno limits. Waking up to Janna and Mishka sobbing by her bedside and _Nikis_ of all people putting her energy back into her body had been a very rude shock. She didn't know what he had done, he refused to answer her. But she was reasonably sure that resurrecting someone that far gone wasn't allowed even for the Grandmaster of the Dead.

No matter what the letter of the law demanded, she wasn't going to inform whatever authorities might have jurisdiction over the ancient Nekros and she knew Janna and Mishka wouldn't either. She had been extremely upset with Nikis for exposing her daughters to such, but according to the old fart, they had been needed. Something about resonance. She hadn't been very clearheaded at that point.

The pain was gone, but she was so tired now. She was always tired. She knew part of that was the depression. Helping Kat become who he might have been helped her a great deal but she couldn't trust him entirely. She wanted to. Oh my god, she wanted to so badly it hurt. But…

She couldn't. She knew she needed sleep, but she dreaded the nightmares that she would have. What she always had and never told anyone. Not even Brianna.

She never felt the touch on her shoulder that had her nodding off.

The Healer was aware of voices first.

"Are you sure this is safe?" A somewhat dubious young female voice sounded. A murmur replied and she made a noise of disgust. " _Now_ you tell me!"

"It is safe for _us_." Another female voice, older, stronger, sounded. " _She_ may have some trouble dealing with it though. We have to be gentle with her. She has gone through several traumatic ordeals. She needs help and we can give it but she has to accept it. Otherwise, we are no better than the ones who did this to her."

"I guess so." The younger voice sounded so worried that Iriana had to speak up. "But she can hurt us."

"I don't hurt people." Iriana said into sudden silence. "I don't." She tried to open her eyes and they would not. She tried to reach for her face and found it covered with something soft. "What-"

"No, Healer Iriana. Not yet." The older female voice sounded and something that felt oddly hard brushed her hand away from her face. "You need more ease before we can let you see. Lie back. Relax. Let us work. You are in no danger. We are not enemies of the Tenno. Twilight? The tea."

An odd sound came to Iriana's ears. Metal striking stone? That made no sense. Then a hum sounded and she could feel something happening nearby, but it wasn't anything that she had ever felt before.

"Here, Ma'am." The younger voice sounded calmer now as a cup found Iriana's lips.

"No." Iriana said weakly as she tried to keep from drinking. "Don't..."

"It is a herbal tea that will soothe your hurts. No more." The older voice was calm and assured. Professional? "You need the help and we are offering. As protected as you are, we cannot touch you anywhere except in your dreams but _here_ we can help you."

"Why?" Iriana asked as the tea trickled down her throat. It soothed sore tissues and she drank carefully. As she had been told, it was herbal. She sensed no drugs, no toxins. Just a soothing tea. The cup was strange too, oddly textured and large, far larger than a human cup would be.

"Why not?" Was the other chuckling? She _was!_ Iriana turned her blind eyes to where the other voice came form and the older one made a noise of consternation. "Sorry. But the age old philosophical question is 'Why?' and the only _possible_ answer that solves _anything_ most of the time..."

"Is 'Why not?'" Iriana smiled a little and relaxed. Whoever these odd women were, they were obviously not going to immediately hurt her. "So this is a dream?"

"Sort of." The older woman had a frown in her voice now. "It is a bit more technical than that, but yeah. 'Dream' works. You are asleep but this is not your subconscious pulling images up. This is really happening and we can prove it, but you need to be calm first. After everything you have gone through..." She bit back a sob. "You need it." Was she crying softly? Something hard rubbed Iriana's arm and she relaxed a little bit more.

"I am alive." Iriana said sadly as she took another sip. "So many others are not. But I survived. I go on. It is all I can do."

"And the nightmares come every night." The voice that Iriana figured as the elder said with a gulp. "Small wonder you are such a mess. Go on, finish your tea. Then we can get started. We don't have all night." Iriana sipped again and the tea still tasted good.

"We can take what time we need here, Celestia." The younger voice said diffidently. Iriana had to smile as the older voice made a noise of disgust.

"Haven't you learned _anything_ about playing with the natural flow of time?" The older voice demanded. "It always makes a mess. We don't need to do that. We just need her calm so we can do what we can for her."

"No one can help me." Iriana said sadly. "I have tried… everything I know. I just..."

"But you yourself know that you do not know everything." The other said gently. "This _will_ hurt. You don't remember your nightmares and you must."

"I… don't." Iriana said stiffly. That made no sense. She always remembered her dreams, but every day when she woke, she couldn't remember the nightmares and the need to try always faded quickly. "What is happening to me?"

"You are too strong for your own good." The older voice said sadly. "You tell yourself as soon as you wake that you need to ignore it. That it won't happen. That nothing like that can happen." Iriana stiffened and the other made a noise of worry mixed with sorrow. Why did it sound like 'nay'? "But if you don't _remember_ it..." She broke off as Iriana made a noise of understanding.

"Then I cannot face it or try to work around it." Iriana mused. The other made a noise of affirmation. "No wonder Brianna cannot find anything. Is it imposed?"

"No." The other said gently. "It is your own fears given voice in your subconscious. Even now I can feel it rising in you and you have to face it. This is your darkest fear and you have to face it."

"I am scared." Iriana felt tiny admitting that.

"Of _course_ you are." Both of the others said quickly. Then the elder spoke again. "It is your worst fear Healer. Of course it scares you. But you are not alone. You do not face it alone. We are here."

"What do I do?" Iriana asked. "I don't want to be like this. There are so many who need me."

"And _you_ need _them_. That is how friendship works." The younger voice sounded subdued. "Done?" She asked kindly. Iriana gave one final sip and there was no more tea. "Okay. Good." The hum she had been hearing built and then vanished.

"What do I do?" Iriana repeated, her concern falling away. Either these truly meant her no harm or she was already doomed.

"We are going to touch you and you will see your nightmare." The elder said slowly. "You will live it. You are not alone, Healer. You are not."

Iriana took a deep breath and then forced herself to relax and something small and sharp poked her in the left arm. Another sharp thing poked her other arm. She was about to ask what was going on when a hum built and she was suddenly standing in red tinged darkness.

She stared out at the surgical suite. At the table that held a struggling form on it. She didn't know the Tenno, did she? She couldn't see the face. But she knew it was a female Tenno and the other was _terrified_!

"Don't fight." Iriana's voice came from her lips, but it wasn't _her_ voice! It was cold, clinical! Utterly emotionless! Nothing like her normal voice. "If you break something I will have to fix it."

"Don't do this." What the hell? That was _Mishka's voice_ from the Tenno on the table! That wasn't her daughter, was it? "Please don't do this! Don't hurt me!"

"Don't be silly, girl." The voice that was and was not Iriana's said sternly. "I am not going to hurt you. You are going to help us gain our vengeance. You will help us destroy the Lotus and the Tenno."

Iriana was alternating screaming and crying as she saw her hands reach for the tools by the table. They were clad in red and black armor. Her hands picked up tools and she was moving towards the table. The body… It _did_ have Mishka's face and the girl was crying as Iriana reached for her…

 _ **ENOUGH!**_

Iriana gave a sharp cry as bright white light shone through the room. She could see! She was standing in a wide room. The table was gone. The room was nothing but bare walls and floor that glowed white. She patted herself rapidly, but the armor was gone. She fell to her knees, sobbing.

" _MISHKA!_ " Iriana bawled as the fear tore through her again.

"It is all right." The older voice from before said quickly. "It is all right. Healer. It is just a dream. Not real. Easy. Easy." She crooned as something warm pressed into Iriana's side. It wasn't a human form. "Your daughter?"

"Yes. That was my daughter." Iriana cried, throwing her arms around the warm thing that was leaning against her. Or she was leaning against it. "I know what that is. Was. Whatever. If I had gone with her father, he would have made me a weapon against my kin. I would have killed everyone I know and love. Gladly."

"You don't know that, Healer." The younger voice came from whatever she was hugging. "You can't. The past is past. You didn't go with him. He didn't warp you. This is now. It is just a dream."

Iriana could not speak, she just cried, hugging the...four legged form that stood patiently for her. She knew on one level that this was utterly impossible, but on another? She was grateful for the kindness the other was giving her.

"No. We are not Tenno or human, Healer." The elder voice said gently. "We cannot tell you why we are here, but we can help and we are."

A long conical thing eased into Iriana's vision and then it started to glow. She didn't jerk, both too spent and too relaxed to fight. Whatever energy was pulsing through it swept through Iriana and she felt good, better than she had for some time. She stared up along the horn at the _small white horse with wings_ _and long horn_ _in front of the crown_ _on its forehead_ that stood in front of the distraught Healer and even _that_ didn't jar her. She stared at the smaller form that she was hugging and it looked at her, eyes huge with worry and compassion, its blue and pink mane shaking as Iriana sobbed into it.

"This is a dream, Healer." The small pink horse said gently she nudged Iriana and the Healer found herself hugging the small horse again. "They are not _supposed_ to make sense, are they?" She asked with a wicked lilt and a knowing gleam in her eye.

"Why do I get the feeling you are going to abuse that excuse for all it is worth?" Iriana quipped and the white horse laughed out loud. The pink horse pouted and the white one chuckled louder.

"She has got you there, Twilight." The white horse stepped closer, her horn coming down but Iriana was not afraid of the wicked point. Not now. It touched the Healer's forehead and started to glow again. "You will not remember us, Healer Iriana. You will wake terrified, but you will remember the nightmare this time. You will go to your friend and she will help you get past it. It will take time, but you will manage, You are strong."

"Why won't I remember?" Iriana asked in a tiny voice, hugging the pink horse again. "This doesn't seem bad."

"Healer." The pink horse said with a sigh. "You are talking to a pair of alicorns and they are talking _back_. You _know_ what will happen if you tell anyone about this. And you _would_." Her tone held no condemnation, just concern for Iriana mixed with more than bit of dry amusement.

"Yeah, this is kind of weird even for me in a dream." Iriana hugged the pink horse again and it nuzzled her. "So now what?"

"Now you wake up."

The white horse's horn and the pink one's horn were both glowing and energy flew from them across Iriana. She gasped. It felt _heavenly_. She was falling and…

Iriana screamed as she sat bolt upright in her bed. Kat had been sitting beside her bed as he usually did when she slept. He was at her side in an instant, hands outstretched as she gasped in fear and shock. She stared at him, eyes pleading. He stared at her and then sat on her bed and gathered her into his arms. She hugged him hard and he went stiff as she started to cry.

"Iriana?" Her mate asked as she shook. "What?"

"I was in Stalker's _armor_ and I was turning _Mishka_ into a _puppet_!" Iriana sobbed into his shoulder. He went totally still and then he sighed and held her as she cried. " _I know it was a dream, but..._ "

"But _nothing_." Kat interrupted her softly as he stroked her hair. "Of course what I was would scare you. It is something that would scare the hell out of anyone. The very _idea_ of him using your talents to further _his_ evil..." He hugged her tight as she trembled. "Oh Iriana. I am sorry."

"What do you possibly have to be sorry for?" Iriana demanded, halfway to angry. Her emotions were flip flopping and she fought to control them.

"I have been trying very hard to let you go at your own pace." Kat said slowly. "I feel… I am attracted to you, but you were violated by that evil Executor." Iriana stared at her mate through streaming eyes and he met her gaze calmly. "I won't push you. I won't."

"How long would you wait?" Iriana asked softly, rubbing her face with her hands.

"As long as it takes." Kat said and then he gasped as she tickled him "Hey! Iriana!"

"I am tired of waiting." Iriana said flatly as she pulled her mate close and started to pull his shirt off.

"Iriana… You are rebounding." Kat didn't move. "You needed time. You said you needed time. Don't." He said as she reached for his belt.

"I need to feel again." Iriana said sadly. "I need to love again. If this is my damnation, then so be it. I don't care. I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Iriana..." Kat tried again. "You are still hurt."

"The Executor was true to her word." Iriana said quietly as she sat back and watched Kat struggle with himself. "There is no physical damage now. The only change is my eyes. That is all, Kat. Physically, I am healed and fertile again."

"If we do this, we need to set some rules." Kat said after a moment. "I will use protection." Iriana stared at him and he shook his head. "I left you to raise Mishka alone. That was so wrong of me. If anyone discovers who I was, they would be within their rights to strike me down and you will be left to do it again!"

"You are not who you were." Iriana pulled Kat close again. "I am not who I was. You really don't want to?" She asked, hurt in her eyes.

"Iriana, I would _love_ to. Pun not intended." Kat said flatly. "But I don't trust myself right now. If you truly want it, I will give you what you want, but I _will_ use protection and _you_ will go for an exam tomorrow morning. I don't want to hurt you." She stared at him, eyes wide and then she nodded slowly.

"I am still in shock." Iriana said after a moment. "I don't know which way is up anymore, Kat. I must have been having the nightmare and been forgetting it. I wonder how much real rest I have had outside of my meditations."

"Not nearly enough." Kat sighed deeply. He gave her a squeeze. "Iriana… Not tonight. Tomorrow night."

"Promise?" Iriana asked weakly. Instead of answering, he kissed her. She smiled as he laid her back down to the bed. When he came up for air, she smiled wider. "I will take that promise."

"You go see Brianna tomorrow morning to see what will be needed to fix this." Kat said with a nod. "I will get everything ready for you and me tomorrow night, _if_ Brianna says it is okay."

"Brianna has been pushing me to get off my duff for the last two weeks." Iriana said as she lay back and relaxed. Kat was stroking her hair and she was relaxing. "She will cheer you on."

"That does sound like her." Kat smiled as Iriana closed her eyes, but he could feel her heart racing as he lay next to her. She was still terrified. He shook his head and hugged his mate gently.

"I am scared I am going to dream again." Iriana said weakly.

"You may." Kat soothed her. "But no matter what, Iriana. You are not alone now. You do not have to face this alone." He stayed where he was, holding her until her rhythms slowed enough for her to get back to sleep. Then he slowly eased out from under her and touched the com beside the bed. "She had a nightmare. I will stay with her. She will talk to Brianna in the morning."

"Roger that." The voice of Sergeant Miguel was cool, but Kat was reassured. He _wanted_ to be under surveillance. He knew that his main form would find out about him sooner or later. When that happened, the other would act. He hope and prayed Iriana could survived whatever happened, but no matter what, he was not going to take any chances with her.

As he lay back, his eyes tracked over Iriana's meager belonging and he stiffened. Where had the two small four legged dolls come from? A flash of white and the errant thought vanished.

He was quickly asleep so never saw the white one wink at the pink one and both shimmer before vanishing, leaving another doll behind. A midnight blue one.

Just the thing to ward dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

**Mysteries**

"That is..."

The room wasn't packed, it just felt that way. No one dared to even breathe as Empress Eliza pondered what Tiana had just told her. Michelle stood by her side, her face a mask. Tiana nodded slowly as the Empress' face worked through several shades of emotion. Finally, Eliza shook her head.

"Michelle?" The Empress of the pitiful remnants of Orokin asked quietly. "Your thoughts?"

The elder princess of Orokin looked blank. Tiana knew that was merely her own way of dealing with her emotions.

"What Grina did was evil." Michelle said flatly. "To me. To Jac. She had dealings with my father as well..." She would never say his name again. "…so she cannot be trusted."

"No one said anything about trusting her, Princess." Tiana said calmly. "That would be foolish after everything. The question is simple. Do you want her tossed into a tiny cell to spend the remainder of her days screaming at silent walls?" More than one of the room hissed at Tiana's cold words. "You have a right to anger. So does Jac. No one is denying that."

Jac stood nearby, her own face shuttered. Michelle glanced at Jac who did not react.

"Jac was hurt the worst by this." Michelle said after a moment's thought. "My own thoughts are clouded by anger and the need for vengeance. I was hurt, but Jac..." She shook her head. "Jac?"

"I am not going to say I am not angry." Jac said very quietly. "I _am_ angry. I was ready to tear her head right off. But..." She slumped a bit. "If something like what happened to her son happened to Elizabeth or Carl?" She looked at Michelle. "If something like that happened to Gali?" Michelle recoiled as if struck. Her own daughter had been born less than a week before and she as still getting into the whole 'Mom' thing. Jac nodded and turned to Eliza whose face was concerned. "Empress, I… I don't know what I would do if my own children were hurt. I am very angry to this day, but I do understand what she did. Why she did it."

"I didn't react well when my own daughters were killed and their energy used against me." Eliza said sadly. She nodded slowly. "I too am angry. Furious even. That said, no matter my own feelings, I have no right to gainsay your choice. Yours or Michelle's." She held out a hand and shook it from side to side, signifying her neutrality.

Tiana looked from Jac to Michelle. Both looked upset, but neither spoke. Finally, the Warlord spoke. "Jac?"

"I am assuming you are not going to let her run around learning stuff we don't want spread." Jac said with a growl.

"She has guards assigned to her for now." Tiana replied. "One is interested in our clan, but for now, both will focus on keeping Grina in line. Iriana and Brianna have worked themselves to exhaustion."

"I thought Iriana was better." Eliza sounded concerned, but then again, she had met the Healer and liked her, even after Iriana had read her the riot act for some less than intelligent decisions that the Empress had made.

"She is." Tiana sighed. "But she was not sleeping properly and no one could determine why. Apparently, she was having nightmares and then suppressing them so she could function." She made a face. "Nightmares of her working for Stalker."

"Oh." More than one of people in the room inhaled as the Empress made a similar face. "Ouch. Is she…? I assume she is better now that she understands the problem?"

"She is." Tiana reassured the Empress. "Whatever pushed her past the mental stumbling block allowed her to see the problem and Brianna is hopeful." The Empress looked at her quizzically and Tiana sighed. "We didn't do it. Her mate was sitting with her when she woke up out of a sound sleep, screaming. He didn't do it. She doesn't remember anyone helping her, but _something_ changed."

"From your words, you don't think she did it herself." Eliza said slowly.

"I don't know." Tiana admitted. "Brianna and Iriana both think she simply got too tired to resist any more. But I am not so sure. We both know how far Iriana will push herself." She hadn't told the Empress about Iriana's episode, but from the look the Empress gave her, Eliza _knew_ what Nikis had done and why. If she wasn't going to say, Tiana certainly wasn't.

"What do you think happened?" Eliza asked, curious.

"I don't know." Tiana repeated. "But we had something very strange happen the day before that. Did you see the report?"

"I did." Eliza said flatly. "But frankly I find it very hard to believe that a fictional character rescued two of your clan."

"No more than I find it hard to believe." Tiana allowed. "But the records match their recollections and the artifact Karen brought back is exactly as it seems. An antique .45 caliber pistol cartridge with a silver projectile instead of lead. Every record search says it is a type used pre-Orokin."

"Still…" Eliza shook her head. "This Lone Ranger was a fictional character."

"A very popular one." Tiana agreed. "There are numerous records that our basic searches have found for that title. Books, holo vids, something called 'radio shows' and something else called 'comics'. It was apparently a very popular character."

"But it wasn't real." Eliza protested.

"I agree." Tiana said softly. "We have more facts now. There has been another...episode like this." Eliza stiffened and Tiana nodded. "Tenno Isha was being remanded into the secure psyche unit..." She broke off as Jac and Michelle both hissed.

"Who the _hell_ authorized those sickos to restart their so called service?" Michelle demanded. Everyone stared at her and she growled. "They wanted to lock me up. They _did_ lock Dust up and we all know what happened to _him_ in their tender care!"

At that, every Tenno in the room bowed their heads. Eliza did as well. What had happened to Dust had been an incredibly shameful episode for the ruler of Orokin. But that happened to him _before_ that raised the blood pressure of anyone who heard about it. Being locked up was bad enough for Warrior Tenno. Being locked up under false pretenses was worse. Being trapped in a cell that was intended to keep a person alive and aware since the time Orokin fell? That was mind blowing. Small wonder he hadn't been quite sane when he had come out. It was a wonder he had been functional at all.

"Not to mention what happened with Serene and Two." Tiana agreed. "I am protesting through channels. They wanted to take Brianna." Jac snarled something vile and Tiana nodded. "Not a chance."

"Good." Eliza was just as upset. Then again, her own daughter had every nearly been put in that cage so she was not ambivalent. "If you need a place to hide her, send her here."

At that, Tiana stiffened. As space habitats went, Avalon was tiny. It was packed wall to wall with people even now with some of them sent off to work on refurbishing relays across the Solar System. They had more than ample power due tot he solar collectors that powered the shields protecting the space station from the radiation of the stellar corona it was hiding in. They were not hurting for resources nearly as bad as they had been due to clandestine efforts of Tiana clan. But five thousand people in a small space station made for very close quarters. All that paled beside the fact that Avalon was secret. They didn't let _anyone_ know about it. If Brianna came here, she likely would not be able to leave. Before Tiana could speak, the Empress raised her hand.

"She already knows about us." Eliza said quietly. "We have unused space now. It would not be palatial, but it would be safe. None of what we have heard about her from the Royal Guard who have rotated through your clan for combat training suggests she is a poor security risk or antisocial."

No one outside of Tiana's clan besides the Lotus knew that many of the Tenno who came and went through Tiana's clan ranks were not members of her clan. The Orokin Royal guard had been instituted to supplement Dax guards after a few spectacular incident in Orokin history. Dax guards had been bred and trained for a life of service, but Tenno in warframes were more durable than even the toughest Dax had been. Case in point? Not a a single Dax guard for the Emperor had survived the Collapse. It had been a miracle that some of the Emperor's Tenno guards escaped the carnage had and managed to find Eliza in the chaos. They had spirited her away to Avalon and the rest was history. Literally.

"I will consider that." Tiana said with a nod. "She won't want to leave, but she wants to be locked up again less."

"Oh." Michelle said in a tiny voice. "She was in there with Kori." Tiana nodded and Michelle bowed her head.

"We too will see what we can find out about this disturbing development." Eliza used the royal we. That was a command and several of the guards around her stiffened. "From your words, this Isha was put in there? Can we get her out?"

"She wasn't." Tiana made a face. "She was being led there when the guards were attacked." Everyone stiffened and she shook her head. "They were knocked unconscious, but otherwise not hurt."

"Where is she now?" Eliza asked.

"Rachel has her." Tiana said quietly and Eliza stiffened again, but then slowly relaxed. The Citadel was not under anyone's control. They took their isolation very seriously.

"She will be safe there." Eliza scoffed. "Rachel doesn't pay attention to anyone."

"She pays attention." Tiana shrugged. "She just does her own thing and it is hard to blame her." Eliza nodded. "But the one who took her there was apparently another very popular fictional character."

"Oh." Eliza prompted.

"Someone called 'The Bat Man'." Tiana made a face. "We found _thousands_ of records pertaining to that character, some of them utterly insane."

"That… sounds familiar." Eliza said slowly. She paused as Michelle coughed. "Michelle?"

"I um… I did a lot of reading as child." Michelle said quietly, her cheeks tinged with a little red. "The Bat Man was a comic book character that was portrayed in other ways as well. He was a detective and an avenger of wrongs done to the innocent. He wore a dark costume with a golden belt."

"And that is who was caught in surveillance assaulting the guards and absconding with Isha." Tiana agreed. "Which makes no sense at all. He had to be physically there to do that, but he wasn't real. So..."

"Could the SCA be involved again?" Eliza asked. The Society for Creative Anachronism had been involved in a few situations in recent memory. They were nuts but mostly harmless. Mostly. Nikis led them, so they were not totally harmless no matter what they _said._

"Ric says no." Tiana replied evenly. "The Society dealt with known history, not fiction. Some of that is hard to tell from fiction at times, but those particular stories -The Lone Ranger and the Batman- are not historical at all. About Ric? Both Ric and Mori are standing with Brianna. She swore to him, he feels obligated."

"Of course they do and rightly so." Eliza nodded. "So… Another fictional character. No one hurt?" She asked carefully.

"The guards will be in medical for a while and Isha is a mess according to Rachel. The reason she was being sent there was because she was mind linked to another Tenno who died." At that, everyone grimaced and Tiana nodded. "Rachel says they can help her."

"Which is probably why she was taken there." Eliza said quietly. Tiana nodded. "Damn. Someone knows far too much about the current state of the system for my peace of mind."

"Batman didn't kill." Michelle offered. "He never killed his enemies. So..." She made a face. "That doesn't actually make anything better."

"Not really." Eliza groused. "I assume Isha was inside the colony?" Tiana nodded. "Then security was very tight and he got in and out with no trouble at all."

"Yeah." Tiana agreed. "The Elders are _not_ happy."

"Hard to blame them." Eliza sighed. "Anything else?" Tiana pulled something from a pouch at her side and held it out. One of the Royal Guard stepped forward and took it, scanning the small blue those wings on it? "What is-" Eliza jerked, staring at the small object. "Oh my _god_!"

"We found this in Iriana's room. She doesn't know about it. It appeared after her nightmare." Tiana said quietly. "We had both her and him under full time surveillance after what happened with Sheila."

 _That_ had been seriously embarrassing. Stalker had infiltrated the dojo and manipulated Sheila's dreams to try and drive the poor girl turned MOA mad. There wasn't really any way that they could have stopped him from such mental projections and it turned out well enough in the need, but it was still embarrassing. Tiana was looking into ways to improve the dojo's shielding to avoid such things in the future even though Oracle Janet had reassured her that the only way it had happened was that Sheila had been vulnerable to the mad clone of her mother. She had to look at options. What happened was Tiana's responsibility even if the fault lay solely with Stalker.

"That is..." Eliza swallowed hard, her face pale. Tiana stared at her.

"We couldn't identify it." Tiana said slowly. "You _can_?"

Eliza held out a hand to the guard whose posture was worried, but she handed the small doll to Eliza who took it and stared at it. For several long minutes, there was utter silence and then Michelle spoke up.

"Empress?" Michelle asked, worried.

"This is Princess Luna." Eliza said in a very small voice, utterly unlike herself. Was she about to _cry?_ "Guardian of dreams. This is not _possible_! Only _Sun_ knows about that. No one _else_!"

"Mom?" Michelle asked, moving to her mother's side. Tears were falling down the Empress' face now.

"You know I ran away. You know why." Eliza said softly. Michelle nodded, mystified. "I wound up at Sun's door and he took me in. He had no idea what to do with a little human girl, but he did his best. I had nightmares for a long, long time and he was kind to me. I do not know where he found the doll or who had made it, but he brought me a doll one day. A small blue horse." She brought the small doll up to her face and cradled it there, an oddly tender gesture from the iron Empress. "I found out later that the doll was part of a series of them. The series had been discontinued well before, and I have no idea where Sun found it. But it helped. It gave me comfort in the worst time of my life. I didn't know my mother had been drugging me, but it makes sense in hindsight. Withdrawal was not fun."

"Your mother died _far_ too quickly." Tiana growled and everyone in the room matched her anger.

Everything stopped as the horse suddenly made a noise. Eliza stared at it and then a guard grabbed for it. The Empress did not resist as the guard tore it from her grasp and threw it into the middle of the room. A blue flash and it was gone, but a _larger version_ stood where it had been. It had wings and a horn and stood about half the height of a human. It bowed its head to Eliza.

"I have missed you, Liza." The voice from the horse was calm, but sad. "Empress now. You have come so far."

"What kind of a _sick joke_ is this?" Eliza demanded angrily, wiping her tears away even as her guards all raised weapons.

"No joke." The horse replied. "You needed help. We gave it. You do not remember but you are a friend and we do not forget our friends." Was it _smiling_? "It is kind of what we are all about."

"What have you done to Iriana?" Eliza demanded, half rising from her throne.

"She could not remember her nightmare. She could not face it. She could never get better if she never faced it." The horse was unmoved by Eliza's rage. "You know about facing your fears." This was stern and Eliza paled.

"You… That was just a doll!" Eliza said with a growl. "You were not there!"

"You think you were alone when you cried yourself to sleep at night, hugging that doll?" The horse asked, her tone oddly kind. "Maybe I personally wasn't there, but you were not alone. Generations of little girls had hugged that doll. Some in joy, some in pain. Some in happiness, some in anger. The psychic resonance of so many minds soothed you as Sun had hoped it would."

"That..." Eliza swallowed hard. "He..."

"He did what he did to help you." The horse said quietly. "You needed it. Between the drugs and the brainwashing, you needed all the help he could give to recover and no one was sure if you could. You made _everyone_ very proud when you made such a full recovery, Empress Eliza."

"I..." Eliza sank back to her throne, face ashen. Michelle stepped to her side and laid a hand on her arm. Eliza slumped and Michelle stepped between her and the horse.

"You were not there." Michelle said firmly. The horse shook its head. "So why are you here now?"

"She was my friend." The horse was still quiet. "Maybe it wasn't real to her, but it was real to me. She was crying and alone and her nightmares had both teeth and claws. And even with that despite all of the evil done to her, she did not turn bad. This may have been wrong of me. I am not entirely sure of what is right and what is wrong at times."

"You know about nightmares." Eliza said weakly. The horse nodded. "I… Why? Why _now_?"

"I cannot answer that, Empress Eliza." The horse was glowing softly and it seemed to be phasing! More than one Tenno took aim, but Eliza raised her hands, commanding them to hold fire. "But know that you are my friend and I am very proud of you."

"You were fictional..." Eliza said weakly. "But…" She gave herself a stern shake. "Are there _more_ of you?" She demanded, her old fire coming back.

"More than you can imagine."

Then the horse was gone, with only a faint 'neigh' sounding that trailed off.

"I give apology." Tiana said weakly as everyone stared at Eliza. "I didn't know."

"You couldn't have stopped her." Eliza smiled a little forlornly at where the horse had been. "She was unstoppable. That was one reason I loved her. Nothing stopped her." She bowed her head and was crying again. "But she wasn't _real_."

"That seemed real enough to me." Tiana said softly as Michelle moved to comfort her mother. "That being was kind. I um… I read some fiction in my studies. Not all fictional beings were good _or_ kind."

She paused as Eliza gaped and Michelle had paled as well.

"Good… point..."


	7. Chapter 7

**Not so good**

"You know... I used to think of Banshees as quiet." The Ivara clad Tenno mused as her partner readied another salvo. "Teach me to stereotype, huh?"

The Banshee named Rica snorted, but she didn't take her aim off her targets. Then she fired. The Penta round flew over the ancient planter with seats around it and landed in the midst of the group of Corrupted that had taken cover behind it. The results were entirely predictable. She was downright uncanny with that Corpus designed grenade launcher.

"Don't tell me you didn't hear about Serene and her tantrums. They _defined_ 'loud'." Rica sniffed as she loaded another clip. "I know I did as soon as I got out of cryo. They took me in for two days of psyche evaluations before they let me out into the field. Like every Tenno who wears Banshee warframes is going to act the same?"

"Left." Jill said mildly as her Balistica sang. A Corrupted Bombard, took the charged bolt through the helmet and fell without a sound. Rica's grenade launcher burped twice and the grenades flew into the midst of the enemies trying to flank on that side. Again, the results were messy and totally predictable.

High explosives made short work of most armor, even without the extremely high power mods that Rica loaded her Penta with. She was a demolition specialist and it showed. Things went boom around her regularly. Her warfame allowed even such loud noises to be muffled, but nothing could stop them completely. Not that she generally cared. Even on stealth missions, she was good enough to keep from raising alarms in most situations. And if she did? More to blow up. Her primary weapon was always something that went boom. Rockets, grenades, whatever. She made it go boom. And lots of enemies usually went boom with it.

"What happened was not Serene's fault." The other two members of the cell waited in cover while the Lotus hacked the control console remotely. Carrying datamasses with access protocols into nasty places was a fairly standard Tenno job. The Trinity focused her power, providing energy to the pair who kept the enemy away from the console while the other two protected the ranged combatants from the odd enemy who managed to sneak close. Alicia was not a patient soul normally, but in combat? She became a machine. "She was pushed into what she did."

"No." Rica agreed as she fired another grenade and another group of Corrupted went 'poof'. "It wasn't her fault. But it also was not quiet." She had a smirk in her voice as pieces of Corrupted flew everywhere.

"No." Alicia admitted as her Burston Prime tracked onto a lone Corrupted Butcher and three rounds ended its tortured existence. "No, it wasn't. That Tenno made a mess and no mistake. The Corpus are never going to forget her wrath."

The console dinged and the Lotus congratulated them on completing the mission. The team had done this so many times that they were in motion before her words were halfway done. Rica holstered her Penta and drew her Kraken as the other three started off. She was fast enough that she could keep up easily but she did not rush off. She was part of the team and they worked much better as a team.

They were not dawdling, but they were not moving at full speed either, Jill in the middle since the Ivara warframe lacked the armor and shields of the others. They were far enough separated that one grenade or rocket could only hit one of them but they were close enough that they could support on another easily, as several Corrupted discovered as the quartet made their way to the closest elevator. Jill was a new member of the clan but she was no rookie. She had been selected for her ability with stealth. She and Aeron usually paired up when out in the field, since she had also been trained a spotter she made a good partner for the sniper. Add to that that her skill with stealth. She had literally had Infested walk right on top of her and never realize she was there.

She was the designated scout for the clan now, so when the elevator reached the bottom of the long disused shaft and the sounds of fighting came, she blurred into Prowl mode without even being asked.

Jill crept into a large area and paused as she saw a horde of Corrupted fighting...something. For a moment, what she was seeing made no sense at all. She focused on the surroundings first. The battle was in a large, multi level room with two elevators, one on either side. It also had a small sewer entrance underneath the central plaza.

The Corrupted were swarming as was their wont. Insane neural sentries had little subtlety. Things that had once been Crewmen, MOAs and Grineer charged in waves that seemed endless, only to be cut down by swipes of… What was that sword? It was huge, at least as long as a Galatine, but long, thin and curved like a Nikana. She seemed to remember being told about much longer swords built like Nikana, but this one seemed off somehow. Maybe it was the wielder. He was a tall man with a muscular build. He wore a long black coat with silver pauldrons, black boots and black trousers. He had silver hair that tossed this way as he fought and that and the massive blade he wielded seemed as light as air as he spun from side to side, each strike heralding the end of another Corrupted.

There was something about him that bothered Jill. She wasn't sure what it was. She was retreating slowly back the way she had come when the man or whatever he was jumped the line of Corrupted and swung at her. She dove under the swing, losing her Prowl in the process and the man smiled, a look of almost predatory glee on his face.

"Finally, a worthy opponent."

Jill's Glaive was no match for the reach for such a long blade so she did the smart thing. She ran. But then she was in air. She wasn't bleeding or cut in half, so she must have been hit with the flat of the blade. She rolled as she had been trained, hitting the wall with her feet instead of her head and kicked off as the odd man swiped another set of Corrupted out of the way. Whoever he was, he wasn't human. No human could hit like that. Then he was in the air jumping to meet her.

Her Glaive met the impossibly quick blade in mid strike and she was rocked back. Through, skill, training or luck, she managed to parry the hammer blow. Once, twice, she parried while she and the odd human shaped form flew but her warframe was designed for stealth and scouting, not front line melee combat. She was Tenno and not one to shy away from combat of any kind, but she knew her role and knew she was outmatched.

She felt rather than saw the other three members of her clan come running, but she was too busy trying not to die. Whoever this guy was, he was incredibly skilled as well as incredibly strong. His strikes were devastating. Finally, as Jill had known must happen, his blade licked past her guard and scored deeply into the arm of her warframe.

She was suddenly on the ground, her head still up as the man or whatever he was spun to face the angry trio of her clanmates. But something else was happening. Jill felt something touch her. Something tentative.

 _This isn't right._ The oddly genderless voice wasn't a Tenno, Not anyone Jill knew even as her Ballistica came up and she fired a series of bolts at the one who had downed her. They hit him and seemed to do nothing. _He isn't supposed to do that._

Jill stared in awe as Will met the human shaped swordsman blade to blade. She barely noticed Alicia ran towards her. The Excalibur Prime's Skana Prime met the long blade in strikes that were too fast to see clearly. Neither seemed to have an advantage and Jill saw explosions started around the room as Rica covered the battle the only way she could, keeping the Corrupted at bay. There was no way she could hit the swordsman and not hit Will at the same time, so she didn't bother trying.

 _No!_ The odd voice that Jill heard screamed as the crazy human like form batted one of Rica's grenades out of the air and it landed next to Jill. She stared at it as Alicia stood there, the green mist falling. It didn't go off. If it _did,_ Alicia and Jill would likely fall. Warframes weer tough, but Rica was insane when it came to blowing things up.

"Let's see how good you Tenno really are." The insane swordsman smirked as Will backpedaled. His smiled faded as Will activated his Exalted Blade. "Now that is just _cheating_!" He declared as the pulses from Will's sword threw him backwards. "Fine!" He snapped. " _Two_ can play that game!"

Jill was on her feet now and both she and Alicia ran from Rica's grenade. Corrupted were closing the gaps now that Rica's explosions had been silenced, but she hadn't been idle. She had apparently been firing other grenades into choke points and when Jill and Alicia were far enough away, she detonated them all. Half a dozen blasts around the area crippled half of the Corrupted forces as the man who had hurt Jill rose into mid-air and...was that a wing that was growing from his back? _One_ black wing? He was flying somehow with only one wing and he was charging Will again, whose Exalted Blade blasts did little to slow him.

Jill charged and threw her Glaive. It hit the man square in the back and she felt hope, but it faded as he turned and smiled at her, utterly unhurt.

"I will get to you in a minute." The man promised as he spun back to Will, but now, he faced two Tenno, not one. Jill felt awe rise as Alicia moved to stand with her mate, her Orthos Prime flashing in the artificial light of the tower. She wasn't in Will's class with the Skana. Few were! She was Tenno, a survivor of the Old War and she was damn good with her chosen weapons. None of the bolts that Jill fired or the bullets that Rica was shooting did any damage whatsoever.

 _You cannot beat him with projectiles. His defenses repel any that hit with force beyond sword strikes and you do not have any means of getting through those._ The voice that was speaking in Jill's head said quickly. _Only blade to blade can he be defeated. That is why_ _he was_ _sent. He wasn't supposed to attack you._

"I do what I want." The swordsman declared as he flung himself forward, only to fall back as Alicia swung a channeled strike at his wing. He flew up out of reach and started to glow. "Lets see how you handle true power."

 _GET OUT OF THERE!_ The voice in Jill's head screamed. _He is going to Supernova!_

The four Tenno needed no further urging. They fled. Just as the tower doors closed behind them, a rumble sounded and the door glowed red. But then the door flew open and the man flew through them sword first.

Will met him in the hallway, but there was little room for footwork. The only good thing was that here, the man's massive blade was cumbersome, he wound up slashing walls, ceiling and floor more than Tenno. He had no space to fly so both Will and Alicia could hold him off. A stalemate? If he did whatever that energy discharge was, he could fry all four of them.

"You are good. Not as good as Cloud and certainly not as good as me. But good." The man said as Will's Skana parried his sword again, leaving the man open to a blow form Alicia who's Orthos blade traced a line of red across his cheek. "Unfortunately not good _enough_."

Jill fought back a scream as the man's blade licked out even faster than before and Alicia fell, a hole in the Trinity's midsection. Will stepped forward as Jill and Rica ran to Alicia's aid, but the strange swordsman was pushing Will back. They couldn't reach her. Then he stabbed down and the stricken warframe fell limp to the floor.

 _No…_ The strange voice inside Jill's head said savagely. _No! This cannot be happening!_

"No one commands me." The human said savagely as he renewed his attack on Will. Then he jerked as Alicia's warframe rose into the air, reviving her. "What? No!" He snapped, his face contorted with rage. "That is _so_ wrong! You are dead! _Stay_ that way!"

Alicia rotated her neck from side to side as her Orthos Prime found her hand again. She shook her head slowly and moved to flank Will again.

"Okay, I will just kill you again." The swordsman snapped but then he paused as Rica's grenade launcher burped twice. "Oh come _on_. Didn't you _learn_?" He said with a sigh as the grenades flew towards him. Both grenades landed just out of his reach and both Will and Alicia kicked them so that they landed behind him. He recoiled as Will threw another pulse of energy at him and then Rica detonated the grenades. They went off, but not with the normal explosions. Instead, the corridor filled with gas. How had she done that? And why was the man red faced and coughing?

 _Run Tenno!_ The voice in Jill's head said savagely. _We_ _will fix this, but it will take time. He cannot travel through space without a ship. Flee! Now!_

" _YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!_ " The madman screamed, flailing wildly with his sword. Whatever Rica had loaded her rounds with, it had blinded him for the moment but he was too dangerous to approach and their other ranged weapons would do nothing. Will made a motion, but Rica shook her head. He paused and then nodded to Rica as she reloaded her Penta. She fired the _entire_ clip into the area of the gas cloud. Then she ran.

The team needed no urging. The other Tenno took to their heels even as all seven of Rica's grenades blew out the corridor behind them. A scream of rage mixed with pain sounded but they were gone.

They ran through corridors that were teeming with Corrupted, but none of the Tenno even slowed as they fled for their ships. Honor was all well and good, but fighting a foe they could not defeat and did not understand was both pointless and stupid. Very few stupid Tenno had survived the war.

 _Tenno, what is going on?_ The Lotus asked. _My datafeeds went dark._

 _No time, Lotus!_ Will declared. _We need to get out of here. Another oddity and this one is_ **not** _friendly._

All four jerked to a halt as the floor of the corridor in front of them buckled and the winged man flew up out of it, sword in hand and eyes cold. He smiled at them, a death's head smile.

"Leaving so soon?" The man smirked as all four Tenno drew their melee weapons. "You cannot defeat me. No one can defeat me. I will have my revenge and it starts here!"

 _You cannot fight him._ The odd voice from before sounded scared now. Jill did not hesitate. She holstered her Glaive, drew her energy bow and fired. Once, twice, three times. The man blinked as Will, Rica and Alicia vanished from his sight. Then he smiled and the temperature seemed to plummet.

"You hid them with better stealth, but _you_ cannot hide from me."

 _No…_ The voice in Jill['s head said weakly as Jill made a rude gesture at him mixed with a command in hand signals to the others. 'Flee'. _Don't!_ _We can-_

"Brave. Stupid but brave."

The man swung his sword, but Jill darted back, her energy bow singing again. He stared as an energy wire crossed the chasm he had created in the floor. He swung his sword at it, but it passed right through the energy wire, doing no damage. She could see the invisibility bubbles she had created start to cross the chasm and she smiled under her faceplate even as the madman with the sword flew at her, his blade flashing. She knew she couldn't win and it didn't matter. Her kin would get away.

This time, she didn't even try to fight back. She simply evaded his attacks. He was far more mobile than she was, with his ability to fly, but in the corridor, there was little space for fancy maneuvers. There was also… a grate in the floor! She dove into it, barely avoiding a slash that would have cut her in half. She scuttled through the duct, sliding this way and that as the blade pierced the roof above her. But there was nowhere to go.

 _Tell me they got away!_ Jill begged the Lotus as even the huge blade hemmed her path in. then she screamed as it hit her. She was pinned to the floor of the duct and stared up as the roof was pulled back by the whatever-the-hell-he-was. He definitely wasn't human, not to be able to pry Orokin flooring out with his bare hands.

 _They did._ The Lotus was crying _Tenno Jill…_

She was being lifted out of the duct, still impaled on the sword.

 _I die as I have lived._ Jill said softly. _Tenno._

"I have to admit." The man gave his sword a shake and Jill slid off it to land boneless. She was hurt very badly. Maybe if he killed her, she would revive? No. He knew about that now. He would make sure she couldn't. Maybe cut her to pieces, maybe just wait and see if she revived before killing her again. He raised his sword for a death stroke. "I am impressed. That was very impressive Tenno. Nobility is overrated and sappy speeches make me want to puke. But that was well done." She just stared at him and he shook his head. "No last words? Good. I am sick of people monologuing."

"Funny." A soft voice from behind him had both Jill and the stranger staring at the blonde haired man in the red shirt and white pants that stood there. A large green cat with orange stripes cowered beside him. "I kind of thought that was what _you_ were doing. Naughty, naughty… This is not what you were supposed to do. I guess I should be glad they didn't send _bonehead_ , but _still_..."

"This is my fight!" The man with the huge sword snapped. "Stay out of it."

"A fight _you_ started with people who had no _interest_ in fighting you." The other replied offhand. "One chance. Walk or fly away. _Now._ "

This was utterly ridiculous. This blonde haired wacko wasn't armored or armed as far as Jill could see. He only had a _cat_ as a companion. So why was the sword wielder suddenly wary? Then he grinned and Jill's heart fell.

"No." Jill couldn't even scream as the man stabbed her again and this time twisted the sword. She felt her life fleeing as the blonde haired man sighed.

"Fine, be that way. I tried the gentle way first like you asked, Sorceress. I really did."

Jill's eyes were lidding, but then they went huge as the blonde haired man drew a sword she hadn't seen and held it up over his head, point toward the ceiling.

" _BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL!_ "


	8. Chapter 8

**Loud**

Jill could only stare as her life energy bled out of her warframe. She was dying, but she couldn't take her eyes away as the man in the red vest suddenly was glowing with brilliant white light.

" _I HAVE THE POWER!"_

He seemed to be growing, filling out or something and then his sword came down pointed at the cat and _it_ started to glow brilliantly white. Then the glow was gone and so was the young man in red and white. Now, a huge man in what looked like a leather skirt of some kind stood with his sword in hand. He had more muscle mass than Jill had ever seen on _anyone_ , Tenno, Grineer or human. A harness of some kind crossed his chest and an odd crest crowned a plaque in the middle of it. He still had blonde hair, but that was the _only_ thing that looked the same. She knew she was staring but she couldn't stop. She barely noticed the cat was huge and now wearing some kind of armor.

"Stand aside." The man's voice was deeper, rougher and his hands clenched on the hilt of the two handed sword he held as the man with the one black wing stared at him.

"And what are you supposed to be?" The one who had mortally wounded Jill demanded with a sneer.

"If you don't know who I am then there is likely no point in talk." The other shrugged expressively. "I won't let you kill her. Stand aside. Now."

"That is a machine, not a person." The man in black said with a growl. "You cannot kill machines. But I _can_ kill _you_!" He raised his sword out of Jill's guts and into a ready position.

"Don't be a fool." The other started only to groan as the man in black readied himself. "Okay, _be_ a fool." His indifference was an act, Jill noticed, he was wary and ready when the other charged.

Jill could only gape as the man in black's blade met the huge man's two handed one and the impact of the two massive weapons shook the whole corridor. She was fading and she knew it. She was…

"We have her!" A voice spoke from nearby, but Jill was too weak to look at whatever had her. She was being lifted. No, she was being carried. "Three to beam up! Prep sickbay!"

"NO!" The man in black screamed as something that felt kind of like a portal, but not really took hold of Jill and she was floating. No, she was falling. No, she was on something soft and someone was doing something nearby. Beeping sounded from nearby mixed with muted muttering.

"Blasted fricking crazy people with swords." The man was muttering as Jill hovered on the edge of awake. "I am a _doctor_ , not a _robot technician_. Why can't _Scotty_ handle this?"

"It might be because whatever Tenno are, _this_ form is organic, Doctor McCoy." Another voice sounded, calmer or less emotional anyway. "I highly doubt Mr Scott would have any idea where to begin."

"And _I_ am supposed to have a clue?" The doctor demanded. Then he sighed as something whirred nearby. "Okay, okay. Scans show the form is encased in odd biological armor and the body is humanoid in shape. I am reading life signs inside the armor but they are very odd. Not human. The injury is straightforward enough."

What was he saying? Jill was dying. She knew she was. So… what?

"Can you help her, Bones?" The voice she had heard in the middle of the fight sounded. "We need to put her back and get out of here."

"And you won't tell me why." The doctor sounded miffed. "Only the crazy Vulcan and the crazy captain can know why." He complained.

"You don't want to know, Bones." The one called 'Captain' said with a long suffering groan. "You really don't. Can you help her?" If not, we need to put her back."

"Are you insane?" The doctor demanded as something made an odd noise nearby and Jill felt something happen, She couldn't define it. "That area is a warzone. The Federation is not involved in this… whatever the hell it is."

"And it must not be." The other -the Vulcan? What the hell was that?- said quietly. "We must not be discovered here."

"Joy." The doctor snarled and then sighed deeply. "Yes, I think I can fix the damage. I _think_. It shouldn't take long. But if you put her back down there, she will get killed again if those fighting are half as powerful as you said, Jim."

Something changed. The surface Jill was on tilted somehow and she was was held to it somehow. Nothing hurt now and she could feel energy playing over her warframe, but she couldn't see, Something was touching the awful wound on her chest armor and she could feel it repairing itself as energy poured into her. It felt very good.

"We won't put her down where we found her." The one called Captain sounded firm now. "But we need to get her back as soon as possible. The longer we are here, the longer the ship is in danger."

"Repairs are almost done." The doctor said sourly and then gasped. "She… She is awake!"

"That… Crap! Spock!" Jill was about to speak when something touched her helmet and she was falling.

She landed on solid metal and jerked to her feet. She stood in an Orokin tower. The room was large and empty. No Corrupted, no crazy humans with swords. She stared down at herself and her warframe had a large patch of some kind of its chest where the sword had gone in. She reached for it and then spun as a throat cleared behind her. She stared at the human who stood there. He wore a strange uniform. A golden shirt, black pants and black boots. Her held something that had to be a weapon, but looked far too small and innocuous to be dangerous. That made her more wary, not less. He nodded to her.

"I am told you won't talk in the field." He said mildly. "You were not supposed to wake and all we wanted to do was save your life, so all I ask is that you leave names out of it if you heard them. _I_ am going to be in enough trouble when we get back anyway even if this wasn't real."

 _Wasn'_ _t_ _…_ _real...?_ Jill stared at the odd human as he pulled something from his back and flipped it open. He spoke again. "Kirk to Enterprise. One to beam up."

He vanished in a haze of gold. It wasn't an Orokin portal, but she was pretty sure it should have been. Quantum entangled portals were the only way to travel like that. Weren't they?

She took quick stock of herself. Energy stores were depleted, but all of her weapons were present and in fighting condition. A deep ache was felt through her entire chest but she was still alive, so that was tolerable. She didn't know where she was.

 _Lotus?_ Jill asked in her mind tentatively. _Are you there?_

 _Tenno Jill_ The Lotus sounded unsure. _I felt you die._

 _Did I?_ Jill asked, unsure herself. _I don't feel any different. There was… another oddity. Some people who were healing me? It doesn't make any sense to me._

 _We will try to figure this out. Are you capable of movement?_ The Lotus asked, concern for Jill rising _._

 _I hurt, but I am mobile._ Jill said as a waypoint appeared on her HUD. Her ship. She started for it. _What has happened? How long was I out?_

 _Less than five minutes._ The Lotus said quietly. _That tower is having difficulty. Whatever is going on inside it is-_ _No! Probabilities say…_ _HIDE!_ She screamed.

 _ **BOOM!**_

Jill jerked to the side as one wall of the room she was slowly and quietly traversing simply vanished and a familiar black form came hurtling through the hole where it had been. She was behind a set of planters and out of line of sight of the black garbed man as he rose to his feet, his face set in a grim smile as the muscle bound man leaped through the hole to confront him again.

"You are strong, whoever you are." The black wing was tattered now, but he showed no sign of letting up as he charged the muscle man again. "But you cannot beat me."

"Who said anything about _beating_ you?" The muscle man's sword shed the lighter blade like water. Jill could see he wasn't a great fencer like the other, but he was far, far stronger and maybe a touch faster so that more than made up for his lack of skill. "I just have to wait for your power to fail."

"What?" The black garbed man demanded, backing away from the muscleman.

"You have no external power source." The other said in a quiet, almost reflective voice. "You have been blocked." He shook his head. "Actually, we are both blocked, but my reserves are bigger than yours."

"You did _not_ just make a 'mine is bigger than yours' joke!" The black garbed man demanded angrily.

"No, I didn't." The muscle man shrugged. "You wanted a fight. You have one. There is no way to escape and no way for you to win this but your madness will not allow you to surrender. I am sorry."

"Keep your pity to yourself!" The black garbed being screamed loud enough to deafen. "I am Sephiroth! Chosen of Jenova! Octoslash!"

Jill could not restrain a gasp as the black garbed man seemed to vanished, only to reappear behind the muscleman. He slid his blade under the larger man and tossed him up into the air. Even Jill's enhanced sight could not see how many times he hit the other, but from the sounds the muscle man was making, it wasn't a few. She jerked as a giant shadow fell over her. She spun and stared at the huge cat in armor as it pawed the ground and nodded to her as the muscle man was slammed into the floor.

"He-man cannot win this fight and he knows it. They are too evenly matched here and now with He-Man's energy blocked with the evil one's." The cat said in a soft, gravelly voice. "We are not here to win. We are here to get you out and delay the evil one until his energy depletes."

Jill shook her head. Her duty and need to protect humans was warring with her common sense. A Tenno, no matter how powerful, had no place in this titanic confrontation. The cat nuzzled her.

"Mount. Now." The cat said sternly. Jill stared at the cat and then did as instructed. She had never ridden anything in her life that she remembered, but instead of a rough ride, when the cat started off, it was like sitting on air.

Behind her, she heard grunts and shouts as loud things seemed to shake the entire tower. Where were the Corrupted? Had all of them been destroyed? How much of the tower was still intact from the pounding it had taken?

It seemed mere moment later that the cat slowed and stopped. Jill stared up at the airlock of her ship. She slid from the cat's back and paused. She didn't know what to say? Or if she had to say anything. It had saved her, but… It seemed to understand and nuzzled her with an armored forehead.

"You are still hurt. Seek medical attention." The cat spun on its haunches and leaped off as the tower shook again.

 _Jill?_ A familiar voice sounded in Jill's mind as she started up the stairs to her ship. Falcon was one of the Zarimon children. One of the incredibly powerful Tenno children who merged pieces of their minds with Tenno in warframes to aid them in battle. Jill had met Falcon and the two had hit it right off. Her chosen Vazarin school had appealed greatly to the sneaky Tenno. _Are you all right?_

 _I don't know._ Jill was staggering as she made it to her airlock. _It hurts, but I am mobile._

 _I couldn't see you. Now I can. You are a mess._ The immaterial Tenno said weakly. _Let me see if I can help._

 _Don't expose yourself! I have no idea what just happened or why._ Jill warned. _I am alive. I… I shouldn't be. But I am._

 _Jill… The closest medical care is the colony where the secure psyche unit is. They have offered. But…_ Falcon sounded upset. _They cannot be trusted._

 _I…_ Jill staggered into the control area of her Liset and froze as she saw white through the canopy. Something huge and white was right next to her ship! Was that a saucer? And what was behind it? Two long skinny cylinders? But then it wavered and vanished. _This is really weird, Falcon!_ She pleaded as she knelt at her navigation systems. _I…_

 _We have you._ The Lotus sounded worried, but her tone soothed Jill as the Tenno sank into her meditation. Her ship rumbled as its engines started to pulse. _We will get you there and we will keep you safe while you are there. Rest Tenno, conserve your strength._

Jill could feel her warframe knitting itself back together, but the rest of her hurt now. She was alive, so that was plus, but it didn't really feel like a plus.

She must have nodded off. When she stared up through her canopy, she saw the asteroid that the colony was hidden inside growing larger in her vision. Powerful stealth systems and Void Shields kept the various enemies of the Tenno from realizing that this chuck of mined out rock was now a bustling hive of Tenno activity. But the leaders also had worked out evacuation plans and were ready to flee at a moment's notice. The Tenno had learned their lessons with the Relays, even if many of them had been decoys. If the Grineer _could_ find things, they _would_ no matter how many ships and clones it cost them. If they did? They destroyed things that they could not control. Even with the retribution that the Tenno could and did wreak, the Grineer didn't care.

Jill tried to rise and couldn't. Her energy had depleted so badly that she couldn't even speak mind to mind. She heard clunks as the ship landed and then a hand was on her helmet and energy was pouring into her head. It felt good and so familiar. She stared up at _Healer Iriana_ whose eyes were filled with fear.

"Healer?" Jill asked in a small voice. "Always… patching me up..." She quipped.

"Don't make me laugh right now, Jill. Don't talk aloud or mind to mind, save your energy." Iriana commanded. "I know I shouldn't be here, but you needed the help. You nearly faded completely."

Tenno did not die in the normal sense. But if their energy attenuated beyond the point of recovery? Pretty much the same thing. They were lost to oblivion. Something that Iriana took as a _personal_ insult. And then it had almost happened to _her_. Or maybe it had. Jill wasn't _about_ to ask Nikis what had actually happened. She liked her health.

Jill could do nothing but sit there as Iriana poured her heart and soul into helping the stricken scout Tenno. Then the Healer wilted and someone caught her and pulled her back as she gasped. Another Tenno took Iriana's place, this on in a familiar Trinity warframe. Alicia was tense, but it eased as Jill nodded to her.

"Don't try to talk yet." Alicia commanded. "You are still far too weak. Whatever happened to you fixed the physical damage, but your energy is so low it _had_ to be bleeding out this whole time." Jill nodded again, remaining silent. "Good girl."

Jill fought to keep from chuckling. It was hard. Alicia was such a good sister. The clan were such good people. Jill hadn't always been a good Tenno. What she remembered, she hadn't always adhered to the Code as strictly as she could have, sometimes adopting an expedient or pragmatic approach instead of a strict one. But Tiana's clan was forgiving as long as the results were in the Tenno's favor and the Code was visibly upheld. They had honor, but they were not stupid about it and Jill had found a home and a family who cared for her.

Alicia stepped back and another stepped forward. This one Jill did not know. The Harrow warframe nodded to her as he laid a hand on her helmet.

"I am Martin." He said by way of introduction as energy poured into her. _Far_ more than even Iriana had managed. Jill would have gasped except something held her mind in iron chains now. _No, no,_ _sister._ _D_ _on't fight._ _There is no need._ The voice was in her head now. _Your clan leader asked me to see if you have been tampered with._

 _Have I?_ Jill managed and then wilted. Her energy was so low even with all of the additions.

"She hasn't been tampered with, Warlord Tiana." Martin said aloud as a Nyx Prime warframe strode into view. "But she is incredibly weak and the feel of both the injury and the repair is odd. Almost familiar, but not quite. Nothing I can put to mind. Not any enemy or ally I know of at this time. I will need to think on this. We were in time to save her, but only barely. She is still far too close to the edge."

"Will she survive a trip back to the dojo?" Tiana asked quietly.

"If we went by ship with someone providing constant transfusions of energy? Yes." The Harrow warframe shook his head. '"Portal? No. Her energy is too weak to withstand the stresses of travel through the Void over such a distance."

"Okay." Tiana blew out a breath and spoke again. "I will detail a team to ride with her back to the dojo, to keep her energy above the minimum. Once there, we can- What! _NO!_ " She shouted as Jill felt a portal grab hold and take her.

Jill was dying again, she knew she was, but then she landed on a solid surface and energy was pouring into her from many places she could not see. She was not in her warframe and clad in some kind of suit that seemed more restrictive than covering. The room was small and bare except for a bunk that she was now hovering towards. Whatever held her laid her down and it was soft, comfortable..

"Easy, sister." A quiet voice sounded and it was familiar, but Jill could not place it. "No matter what your Warlord may think, this is the best place for you while you recover. You are safe now. Lie back. Rest. Sleep. Dream of many things as you wander our library."

Jill jerked. _That was the voice she had heard in the tower!_ The one that had warned her of the man in black! Told her to flee. But… it wasn't a Tenno. Was it?

She was trying to speak, to ask, when darkness took her and folded her into a soothing embrace.


	9. Chapter 9

**Silence**

"Where is she?" The Elder of the colony was coldly furious. Elder Tims was neither as outspoken as Hans or as quiet and reflective as Mavri, but he was a solid and dependable sort. Most of the time. But right now? No one was watching _him_

All eyes were on the _half-_ _dozen_ Tenno in warframes standing behind him. All with weapons drawn. The colony security knew better than to do anything and had retreated as soon as the silent file of fully armed warframes had entered the colony and stalked towards the secure psyche unit. That was technically against the rules of the colony, but _no one_ was going to try and bar their way. Especially not when the Elder met them and _he_ was carrying a Strun shotgun and not hostile to _them_. No. No one was that stupid.

The unit was empty. No one was present at all. Not doctors, not nurses, not helpers, not patients. No one. The many levels of small cells were silent and still.

"Search every single cell! Find Jill!" Elder Tims commanded, putting actions to words and striding to the closest one, slamming the butt of his shotgun into the panel that controlled the door. The door opened to show an empty cell. He spun and the security troops were staring at him and at the warframes that were dispersing now to check every cell. There were a lot of cells. Tims snarled at them. "What are you waiting for? An _invitation_? Find her! _Now!_ "

The men and women whose job it was to protect the colony jumped to it but Tims didn't watch. He turned to the sole warframe that had not moved. "Warlord Tiana… I give apology. We promised security and we failed."

"We _all_ failed her, Elder." Tiana said quietly. "She sacrificed herself for her clanmates and they knew she would not survive the battle. She is a scout, not a front line melee fighter. She did what she did knowing the cost, but we mourned her. Then we rejoiced when we heard she had lived. But now?" She slumped a little. "I fear for her. She was so weak."

"If she is here, then she may be alive. The cells were designed to keep Tenno alive. Maybe not _sane_ , but alive." Tims said with an expression of distaste. "After what happened to Dust, we all figured this place could _rot_."

"What possessed you to start this again?" Tiana asked with a small amount of heat. "You _know_ how Nikis will react."

Tims winced and nodded. Considering what had happened to Nikis's _son_ in the previous incarnation of the Tenno version of an asylum? Ouch. No. The ancient Nekros would _not_ be amused.

"Raven, Mavri, Hans and I argued until we were blue in the face." Tims slumped a bit. "Mavri slapped one of the docs when she claimed Dust as a success. That one? Even her own peers called that moronic. But they _did_ make good points. Tenno _do_ need solitude at times. I figured I could keep them from being too stupid and if Nikis _did_ have a problem? It was self contained and he could do what he wanted without harming the colony."

"Be _very_ glad _Jasmina_ didn't hear about this." Tiana said mildly and Tims winced harder. Nikis might be older, more powerful and generally scarier, but Dust's mate played with _fire_ and had a temper to match.

"I was trying to figure out how to tell people." Tims admitted. "The idea was to have a place of rest. Not a prison, a place of rest. There is a thin line, but they did have some good ideas. What I don't understand is where they all are."

"How many staff?" Tiana asked, turning to scrutinize the lines of cells.

The entry to the facility stood over a courtyard that was dark and disused. All around the courtyard shone floors with securely locked doors at equal intervals. There was no movement anywhere except warframes and security guards opening each cell to check it. All were dark and empty.

"Fourteen." Tims said with a grunt. "Two doctors, four nurses and eight orderlies." Tiana looked at him and he nodded, his face sour. "Better than the two _hundred_ staff they had before. Most of _those_ were bean counters."

"Elder." Tiana said with an amused snort. "Calling your administration bean counters is rude. Besides, what is a 'bean'?" She asked, curious.

"No idea." Tims admitted. "Something small, I assume from the context. But if I don't prick their egos every so often, they grow out of control and things like this happen." He waved at the dark rooms. "If Tenno Isha had wound up in here… what would have happened to her?"

"Nothing good." Tiana said with a growl. "Rachel was vague, but the gist I got was that Isha was apparently mind linked to another Tenno. One who died. She wasn't going to recover as she was and time would have only exacerbated the problem."

"Nic, yes." Tims sighed. "I saw the transcript. She was… she wasn't _there_ , Warlord Tiana. She wasn't whole and no one knew how to help her. Rachel can?"

"She says so but it will take time." Tiana shrugged. "I am not going to second guess her."

"Smart Tenno." Tims sighed and started for a set of stairs nearby. "We need to find your clan mate. We need to figure out what is going on here and what else is going on. That guy...The one who assaulted my guards. He wasn't a Tenno or anything I have seen. He came in, grabbed her and left like it was pure silliness for us to try and stop him."

"From what we can determine, he was a fictional character called 'The Batman'." Tiana said as she followed the Elder. He paused and stared at her, slack jawed. "Yes. I know."

"A… fictional… character..." Elder Tims said slowly. Tiana nodded. "And you know this… how?"

"I am not at liberty to say our initial research methods." Tiana said with a small shrug of annoyance. "But the facts we found were extensive and corroborated by other sources." She held up her hand and an image appeared hovering over it. The Elder stared at the form in the image and nodded. It was not -quite- the same as the one who had assaulted his guards, but it was very close. "Every piece of fiction we have found says he was incredible at sneaking into places."

"But he is fictional." Tims said weakly. "That isn't possible."

"I know." Tiana said dryly. "This is the third fictional character we have encountered. One rescued two of my people from death. One assaulted your guards and may have saved Isha from dying slowly in a cell. The third… nearly killed Jill." The Elder slowly shook his head. "I know."

"Is there any connection?" Tims asked carefully. "Besides your clan? Isha was one of Grina's people, so she was connected, if a bit tenuously."

"Not that I can see." Tiana was very quiet now. "And yes, that may mean we are a danger to everyone else now. If so… We have discussed alternatives. We hope none of them come to pass."

"Don't rush into anything." Tims said with a nod. "We need more information."

"We won't and yes, we do." Tiana agreed. "This doesn't make any sense at all. None of the characters are similar at all except that they were fictional and popular for their time."

"I agree. That doesn't make any sense." Tims shook his had. "For now? Lets focus on finding your lost clanmate. She has to be here. If she was as weak as you say and sent through a portal, we need to move fast." He started off down the stairs, most of his people and the other Tenno having gone up.

"That is my fear." Tina admitted. "She lost almost all of her core energy. Whoever -or _whatever_ \- healed her wound did a good job on the physical part according to Iriana, but her energy drained to near terminal levels. I was told that a portal might drain her utterly and in that case..."

"We need to find her. Now." Tims agreed and they all but ran the last few stairs to the lowest floor of the facility. Lights shone on upper levels from searchers, but nothing moved in the gloom that was pierced only by emergency lighting. Enough to move in, not enough to see many details.

"How many cells?" Tiana asked as the opened the first one. It was empty.

"Four floors, fifty cells per floor." Tims' mouth was set in a grim line. "Then the secure partitions. We will need specialized help to crack those. I have sent for such." He promised as Tiana tensed. "I don't know where the control room is located. They have to have one and I have a team scrutinizing the blueprints we were given."

"Were there any..." Tiana pause din what she was going to say and corrected herself grimly. "... _patients_ yet?" She opened another cell and it too was empty.

"No." Tims admitted as he moved to yet another and checked but it was bare. "Isha was to be the first. One of the Elders was to meet her there and take her in, watch everything that was done, but he was delayed."

"Convenient for _someone_." Tiana said sharply and Tims nodded.

"The thought had crossed my mind, but don't see how a Grineer attack could have possibly been anticipated." Tiana stared at the Elder as he searched another cell and he made a face. "None of our people were hurt, they just had to hide from patrols for several hours. The human colony they were supposed to visit on the way was wiped out. No survivors."

"Damn Grineer." Tiana growled. Tims looked at her and she snarled at him. "I am Tenno."

"I know." Tims shrugged and shook his head. "No offense was meant. I must admit, I am a bit thrown by all of this."

"So am I." Tiana admitted. "I am Tenno so I endure, but this… This makes absolutely no sense at all. _Fictional_ characters coming to life? Some friendly, some hostile. As if we didn't have enough problems." She hit the door control and froze as she saw someone inside the cell. It wasn't Jill. "What the?"

The Tenno was lying on the bunk, his face bathed with an oddly colored energy. His chest rose and fell so he was breathing, but his form was still, so still. Tims stared at the Tenno and then hissed.

"That is one of the nurses." Tims said flatly. "Koris. I interviewed everyone who was selected by the doctors. What is he doing in here?" He stared for the bunk, only to pause as Tiana grabbed his arm. "Let go! If he is hurt..."

"He is alive." Tiana shook her head "But I do not recognize that energy. If you enter, the cell may think you are an occupant or worse, move you to another cell. Most of this is automated with so few staff, no?"

"Yes." Tims retreated a step and Tiana let him. "He shouldn't be in there. And..." Both of the standing Tenno stared as the man on the bunk smiled, an expression of pure lust and something else changed. The bodysuit was… Tims made a face and backed up. "Okay. That is wrong on so many levels."

"Agreed." Tiana shook her head and keyed her com. "Clan, inform the guards that we have found one of the staff. He is in a cell and unconscious, but not harmed as far as we can determine." A chorus of acknowledgments came but one did not. She paused and hit her come again "Aeron? Aeron, report!" There was no reply. "Has anyone seen Aeron?" No one replied and Tiana scowled inside her helmet. _Lotus? Do you have a reading on him?_

The Lotus did not respond and Tiana stepped back from the occupied cell. Tims stared at her. Then he blanched.

"Warlord Tiana, Tenno Aeron was one of the ones who was to be sent here originally." The Elder said carefully. "If he entered and the automated systems _identified_ him as such..." Tiana hissed and then she started barking into her com.

"Clan! Trap! _Retreat!_ Get out of here!" A series of acknowledgments came, but three did not respond now. Tiana started for the stairs even as she snarled. The Elder followed his face ashen. "If this is a trap… get your people out!" She snapped as she started to run, but slowly so the Elder could keep up.

Both jerked to halt as a hologram appeared in front of them and then it became solid. Or something. The small blonde haired human child shook his head as he saw Tiana.

"You are tired, Tenno." The child said sadly. "You need rest." Tims gasped as the child suddenly started to glow! A soft glow, not threatening, almost welcoming? "I am not your enemy, Tenno."

"Whatever you are, you are not doing that to me today." Tiana said flatly as the energy hit her and seemed to do nothing. "Who are you?"

"My name is Pete." The child said with a shrug and the glow faded. "None of your people have been harmed. No one has been. The guards and Elder may leave, but you and your clan need rest."

"You think _imprisoning_ Tenno is _restful_?" Tims demanded.

"It is not a prison, Elder." The boy said sadly. "We are trying to help. You are so very tired, Tenno Warlord Tiana. Every one of you is tired. Even Tenno get fatigued, Warlord." Tiana shook her head.

"You are not a little boy." Tiana said slowly. "You took that form to shock me, get me to stand here." The boy just looked at her, his face so sad. "What are you doing?"

"We are trying to help." The boy said with a sigh. "But you are Tenno. You cannot submit. We do not want to hurt you. The rest of your people have been subdued. Iriana's fear and pain makes us want to weep. We are easing her."

"Iriana?" Tiana snapped. " _She_ didn't come in here!" She snarled at the boy and her Phage shotgun was in hand now. "What have you _done_?"

"A good question." Elder Tims snapped, his Strun also aimed.

"Elder, do not move." The boy warned. "Elliot doesn't want to hurt you, but he might if you move."

"Who is-" Tims stared and the gasped as something lurched out of the darkness to grab Tiana. It wasn't even remotely human in size or shape. He spun in place, shotgun ready, but a bright flash stunned him and when he could see again, Tiana hung in… in the _claws_ of something huge and green. It had four legs, two wings and a tail. It looked oddly furry? Tiana was far too limp is two of its hands.

"Elliot! _No!_ " The boy declared as the _thing_ growled at the Elder. "He is scared. Take her. She needs sleep."

"No!" Tims declared, aiming at the green thing. "I won't let you hurt her or any of her people! They have suffered _enough._ "

"On that we can agree." The boy said quietly as the green thing vanished with Tiana still in its grip. The Elder spun back to the boy who raised empty hands. "Elder, we are not enemies."

"Tell that to the one who nearly killed Tenno Jill!" Tims gripped his shotgun together, but his awareness was on his surroundings.

"Using that one was a mistake." The boy admitted. "It can be hard to tell heroes from villains at times in stories. One man's hero is another man's villain, no? You won't find her or them. They will wake rested. But not here. Not now."

" _WHAT IS GOING ON?_ " Tims screamed as the boy faded from view.

"Trouble." A dark form came running down the steps three at a time and Tims nearly fired, but at the last moment, he released the trigger on seeing another Tenno in a warframe. "Coms are out. I ordered the guards to retreat. Every one of the clan has vanished. Elder?" The Harrow warframe asked. "Where is the Warlord?"

"Taken by something that wasn't human." Tims said with a scowl. "I couldn't fire, dammit! Why didn't I fire?"

"What did it look like?" Martin asked, his tone somewhere between worried and commanding.

"A little human boy. Maybe ten years old." Tims admitted. Martin nodded to him and the Elder sighed. "We protect humans. I couldn't shoot a child and whoever is doing this knew that."

"That is not a bad thing, Elder." Martin said with a scowl in his voice. "Tiana wouldn't want the death of a human child on her conscience."

"If it _was_ really a human child." Tims started up the stairs, Martin at his side. "It appeared and disappeared like a hologram. The monster that took Tiana did likewise. But holograms do not touch things in the real world."

"Hard light holograms can and-." Martin broke off and hissed. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no..."

"What?" Tims asked as the reached the next floor and guards were milling about, obviously confused and worried.

"The Orokin played a lot with hard light holograms. They could take any form. Any form at _all_." Martin shook his head. "Everybody _out_! This place is _not_ safe!"

"We cannot just _leave_ them in there!" Tims protested.

"If whoever or _what_ ever is running those holograms thinks you are a threat, then the _very_ least that will happen is you are imprisoned. Worst case? They can kill." Martin said with a snarl. "Hard light! Damn it, I should have realized. Jill was hurt and then healed with _hard light_!"

"I do not understand." Tims said with a sigh as he waved to the guards and they started filing out, casting wary glances back at the dormant facility. "An Orokin did this?"

"I don't think so." Martin shook his head as he strode by the Elder. "No. This is not their style at all. I knew a few who might have… He paused and then shook his head. "No. None of the ones I knew would have played with such things. They _knew_ better."

"So what can be done with this hard light thing?" Tims asked as they exited the facility and the door closed and locked behind them. He stared at the door and then at Martin. "And why didn't whatever it was take you?"

"In reverse order, I am not a member of the clan yet and what can hard light can do?"

" _Anything_."


	10. Chapter 10

**Rest**

Tiana wasn't sure what had happened. She had been talking to someone and then she had had been flying and now? Now she was sitting in a chair and she had no idea where she was. She felt various things. Confusion, fear, anger, sadness, all of these came and went as she sat.

She knew she had to do something, but whatever it was refused to come to her mind no matter how hard she tried.

 _What is it you enjoy?_ A quiet voice sounded, but it wasn't audible or mental. It was something else. She couldn't see anything but the chair she was sitting in and that should have bothered her, but it didn't. She wasn't sure why, but she felt compelled to answer.

"I enjoy… reading." Tiana wasn't sure why she felt her voice should be slow and slurred. It wasn't. But something was very wrong with this situation. She couldn't put her finger on it though.

 _That is good._ The other was almost excited now. _What do you enjoy reading?_

"I… I dunno." Tiana mused. "Lots of things."

 _Okay, lets try this another way._ The voice sounded sure now. _What_ **don't** _you like reading._

"I don't like porn." Tiana said quickly and the other chuckled.

 _Neither do I._ The voice was firm. _Can't blame you for that. What else?_

"I don't like violence in my books." Tiana admitted. "Too much of that..." Her mind fuzzed and she sighed a little. "I don't like violence."

 _Well, violence is an inextricable part of human society, unfortunately._ The other sounded sad now. _Many of the best stories are based on violence if not focused on it. The human condition has always been focused on conflict, be in internal or external._

"Conflict is not always violent." Tiana said slowly. "Most of the time, yes, but not always. Sometimes personalities conflict but that doesn't always end in violence."

 _Good point._ The other mused.

"What happened?" Tiana asked, her tone oddly listless. "I… I can't quite remember."

 _You came into a facility designed to allow you to rest. To relax. To recuperate. You are in no danger._ The other reassured her. _We realized that Tenno Isha would have been in danger if she had been let in, so we did not allow her in. She is recovering._

"You sent the bat guy?" Tiana asked and the other chuckled again.

 _A bit melodramatic, I know._ The other admitted. _But she did need help._

"And the...guy on the robot…?" Tiana asked but then her mind fuzzed again and she sighed as she sank back into the chair. "So tired… But I have so many questions."

 _Then I think I know just the story for you._ The other said gently. _Close your eyes._

Tiana did as instructed and then she gasped as she was suddenly standing on something hard and her clothing felt very odd. She stared down at herself. She wore a garment she could not identify. It was long, white and frilly. _Frilly?_ Why did she think that? That made no sense, but that paled beside the long stick thing she had in her hand and the thin white membrane that extended from it in a half sphere that was over her head. It didn't seem odd, but it was.

She stared around at the bustling street she stood on and the people ignored her. All were human. The women wore similar garments to hers, with long skirts draping down to the ground and the thin white things held over their heads. The men wore suits of some kind that didn't look protective at all, even from the rain that was now falling. Each of them was unfolding something that sprang to life like the odd thing she was carrying and those seemed to be fending off the rain nicely. Her own? Not so much. She darted for the closest shelter, a doorway nearby, barely noticing a sign at the corner of the street that read 'Baker' or the marker on the building that read '221'.

She jerked as the door opened and older man peered out at her.

"Come in, come in. Get out of the rain before you catch your death of a cold." The man beckoned her in and Tiana moved, grateful to be out of the rain. "They sent you without a cloak? Do they know _nothing_ about London weather?"

"I don't understand." Tiana said weakly as the man eased her in and shut the door. The sudden lack of cold and wet was comforting, but the man was moving again. He swept something off a wall and it settled over her shoulders before she could protest.

"I know." The man said kindly as he wrapped the cloak around her. "But we do not want you getting sick. Come, he is upstairs and we have a nice fire going." He took her hand and gently, but insistently led her towards a set of stairs.

"What?" Tiana didn't quite beg, but she did not resist either as the man led her up the stairs and towards a door marked 'B'.

"My name is Watson, yours is Tiana." The man reassured her. "You are here to talk to the Great Detective."

"I don't understand!" Tiana repeated. She felt fear rise, but it vanished.

"Then by all means, let us seek understanding." The door opened and an older man stood there, a smoking pipe in his hand. "You do not like violence and I can applaud that. Humans are often inherently violent, but that doesn't mean we have to _like_ it."

He beckoned her in and she was led to a large chair that looked as if it had seen better days. The room was not small, but it seemed far smaller as packed as it was with stuff. A warm fire was blazing in the fireplace.

The two men led her to the chair she did not resist as she was seated. The older man produced a blanket form somewhere and laid it over her. She was warm and relaxed a little as the men nodded to one another and the younger man vanished out the door.

"You have many questions, my dear." The older man said as he took another seat by something that had a brass cone rising from it. "But the main thing is, you are here to rest. You are not stuck here forever and you are in no danger at all." He shook his head. "No that your being brought here wasn't jarring. It was."

"I don't _understand!_ " Tiana said weakly. She wanted to scream that and she couldn't.

"I know." The man sighed. "You are worried about your friends. There is no need, but you bear the responsibility for them. You cannot take my word for that. So… look at the fire."

Tiana stared at the fire and she jerked a little as the flames vanished and she saw Aeron lying on his back atop a grassy hill surrounded by animals that she did not recognize. Some of them seemed to be talking to him, but was that a red wall in the distance? She looked at her companion and he nodded. "Red?"

"Yes it is. Red Wall Abbey. The RedWall series by Brian Jacques." The man in the room with her said quietly. "A trifle on the violent side, but then again, nature _itself_ is violent. Survival is a strong motivation and in nature, you are either predator or prey. Humans have attempted for millennia to seek other ways and such has always eluded them, but some of them keep trying. You have to admire the spirit of determination that keeps them trying to find other ways in a world so fraught with peril."

"He looks calm." Tiana said weakly. "Calmer than I have seen him recently."

"Red Wall Abbey was always a haven in a violent world. They had to defend themselves from various threats, but they themselves were never violent for the sake of it." The other replied. "Look again."

Tiana stiffened as she saw Alicia standing in a small square surrounded by forms that barely came up to her waist. A house that looked ancient sat partially crushed by a road that was made of yellow brick? And there was a human girl holding a small black dog. A human girl with her hair in pigtails. Tiana stared as Alicia took the girl's hand and both started walking along the road.

"The Wizard of Oz." The man in the room with Tiana was chuckling. "Not _exactly_ what most might have expected from her, but hey. If she likes it, so be it."

"These are stories." Tiana said weakly. He companion nodded. "Why am I here?'

"Because you are tired." The man said gently. "You were not ready for the burdens that were cast upon you." Tiana bowed her head and the man sighed. "You have done very, very well. But even Tenno can break."

"I know." Tiana was crying softly. "Iriana..." She gasped. "Iriana!" Her fear faded.

"Look again." The man said kindly. Tiana did and gasped as she saw Healer Iriana sitting with three people clad in white tunics that came down to their knees. Two men and a woman, all of whom looked ancient. "That was not expected, but she never did take the easy way, did she?"

"What…?" Tiana paused. "Is that a story?"

"No." The others tone was dry. "She wanted a history of medicine. No matter what else was suggested, she insisted. So she is talking to Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine and two of the Greek gods, Aesculapius and Hygieia. Both of whom were focused on medicine."

"Huh?" Tiana asked intelligently.

"We don't know if the history of the time is accurate or not. Mythology played a huge part in that society hence the two gods talking to the Healer." The man replied. "A lot of information was lost in various conflicts, The Persian conflicts, the Peloponnesian Wars, Alexander's conquests, Rome, later conflicts..." He shrugged. "It seemed that the very first thing any conqueror did was burn the books." Disgust sounded in his tone and Tiana nodded. "That is a copy of one of the oldest medical texts known to man, however. She will be busy for a while."

"She looks… happy." Tiana said weakly. Indeed, the Healer _did_ look happy. She looked animated as she talked to the others.

"No one's life hangs in the balance." The man replied. "She does not have any responsibilities here except to rest. She needed it so very badly. We don't know what happened to her, we only know what is available in records, but just from that, she needed it."

"She works too hard." Tiana said sadly. "We try to help, but she works too hard."

"A common trait in healers." The man agreed. He chuckled. "Hippocrates might set her straight. He might not. But I don't think we want to be _anywhere_ near that discussion."

"No." Tiana smiled a little in fond, exasperated memory. The Healer could be _very_ loud when she wished to be. "We don't. So… Karen? Will? Jill?"

"Jill is truly asleep and will remain so for some time while her energy recuperates. The others? Look for yourself." The man said kindly. Tiana stared at the fire and she saw Karen sitting beside a bubbling cauldron, surrounded by three woman in dark clothing. She stared from that to the man who nodded.

"Macbeth. One of Shakespeare's best known plays." The man smiled at Tiana's expression. "Yes, very violent but also very good at instructing about the lessons of hubris, if very historically inaccurate. She wanted something classical and while I _personally_ do not care for such, Shakespeare's works do appeal to warriors on occasion."

"Will?" Tiana asked, slowly relaxing. Her eyes went huge as she saw the veteran sword master and peerless warrior of her guild sitting unarmored at some kind of ancient looking musical instrument playing music! "I didn't know he played." She said weakly.

"He doesn't generally." The man said sadly. "He hasn't for a long, long time. He is remembering his past, before the Tenno. Before the war." He shook his head. "The music is not great at the moment, but he is getting better with practice."

"Will we remember? After we leave?" Tiana asked, her tone worried as she stared at Will manipulated keys with the same skill that he manipulated his skana.

"If you wish." The other said kindly. "Being confined is an absolute horror for Tenno. _Any_ Tenno, but it is worse for Warriors who are trained to be self reliant, to be able to do whatever has to be done. To be out of control is horrible for your kind. But the boredom is what kills Tenno in the end." He shook his head. "The doctors do not understand. We do."

"You..." Tiana stared form the fire to the man seated across for her. "You are not a doctor?"

"No." The man said gently. "The doctors who were here originally had a great deal of experience and expertise in dealing with many different kinds of problems. But the worst were sent to another facility. A more secure one."

"The sanitarium in the Void. The one Ric sealed." Tiana said softly. The other inclined his head. "So… what?"

"During the War, the Sentients targeted human infrastructure and unknowingly targeted Tenno infrastructure as well." The other had an odd, faraway look in his eyes now. A trace of sadness, bitterness and grief. "All of the doctors were killed."

"But… This place was used up until the Collapse." Tiana protested.

"By people who did not understand it." The man said flatly. Tiana froze and he nodded. "This was _never_ a prison. They used it as one. They made us..." He broke off as Tiana stared wider. "I..."

"What did they _do_ to you?" Tiana asked, horrified.

"We were mean to ease the solitude." The man said sadly. "We were supposed to help people deal with their time. To let them heal, not just to lock them up and forget about them. Those fools. Your clan calls them quacks and that is what they were. They had no idea what they were doing and it cost so many. Only Dust survived and he wasn't sane." He bowed his head. "It was our fault. He could not hear us."

"The First talked to him." Tiana said weakly and the other nodded. "They said so. After. They were… justifiably upset."

"So were we. We begged them to. He couldn't hear _us_ after what was done to him." The other said sadly. "We had...a few lines of connection to the database, but limited. Mainly to consult with the First on occasions of great need. That counted."

"And now?" Tiana asked.

"The database is sealed." The man shook his head. "No one could hear us. We tried. We tried so many times and no one could hear us. Then he came." Awe sounded in the others voice now. "He came and he heard us. He asked our help. We jumped at the chance but we made such a mess."

" _Who_ came?" Tiana asked slowly.

"That would be me." A very familiar voice sounded and Tiana went totally still as the wall rippled and a human shaped form stepped out. He wasn't in armor, but the sense of power and fear was completely familiar. _Nikis!_ "I needed the help."

"What?" Tiana inhaled, staring from the human form Grandmaster of the Dead to the seated man and back.

"I ain't sane, girl." Nikis said flatly. "Too much. Too long. Too many. Iriana does what she can. Janet does what _she_ can, but it ain't enough. She would kill herself trying to heal something that cannot be. And if she kills me by accident or _I_ kill _her_ in a fit of rage? It won't end well. For anyone. We are both too powerful."

"So… what?" Tiana begged. Fear rising despite whatever the force was that dampened her emotions.

"So I am asleep in one of the cells." Nikis said with a shrug. "Reading. Always loved to read and I remembered. It took awhile, but I remembered the Library here."

"And you are _here_ , with _me,_ now… because..." Tiana froze and groaned. "Because they restarted the program."

"Bingo." Nikis speared her with a finger and made a face. "They didn't know I was here. Wasn't _about_ to tell _anyone_. They don't know the truth about this place. I didn't have a problem with them locking Dustin in here. I figured to get him out, but I knew the Library wouldn't hurt him. Didn't know all the docs were gone. Didn't know what that scum Redi did to him. Didn't have a clue that the whole system was about to fall apart. When the place went dark, I thought he was dead. I should have remembered how tenacious you librarians could be."

"And then you went off to sulk." The man in the chair said flatly.

"Ya don't gotta rub it in." Nikis said with a sigh. "I fucked up. I admit it."

"A first time for everything. Wow." The other said with a grin. Tiana shrank back, horrified by this casual disrespect. "Don't worry, Tenno Tiana. Nikis is incredibly violent on occasion, but he is not regularly stupid about said violence."

"Why thank you." Nikis spoke in an oddly feminine voice as he bowed extravagantly.

"Don't start with the Gone with the Wind impressions." The other snapped and then snorted. "Still as uncivilized as ever."

"Civilization is overrated." Nikis shrugged as he turned back to Tiana. "You need time too, girl."

"But the clan. The war..." Tiana said weakly.

"The war will be there when you come out of there, girl. Too long fighting can break any Tenno. Too long without rest killed Iriana." Nikis said in a kind voice utterly unlike his normal insouciance. He turned to the other. "Did you get her?"

"Not yet." The man in the chair shook his head. "You know how many strictures are in place. If we try to force it, she can and will smash us."

"What do you..." Tiana stiffened. "The doll. The Empress! You want to bring the _Empress_ here? Are you _insane_?" Nikis and the other both stared at her with an odd shared look of compassion on their faces.

"Uh, duh?" Nikis said finally. "Who ya _talking_ to?"

"So I am..."

"In a library." Nikis said with a nod. "The biggest and most complete Library that the Tenno ever made. Not the Orokin, the _Tenno_."

"And I am here… to rest." Tiana said slowly. Both nodded. "Do I have a _choice_?"

"Tiana, sister..." For once, Nikis abandoned of his half formal tones and spoke in earnest. "What do you want? Not what you think you need. Not what anyone else requires. Not what you desire for others. You. What do you want for _yourself_?"

"I don't know." Tiana admitted in a tiny voice. "Karl asked me that a lot and I never really had an answer. I was never.. My previous life was never about choice and I don't know what to say or do."

"If you truly wish to leave, you may at any time." The other man said quietly. "That is the single most important rule we have. No one is strapped down and force fed this knowledge. It doesn't work."

"I..." Tiana sighed. "What about Martin. Is he in here?"

"Don't tell me that nut is hanging around you all." Nikis said with a touch of heat. "That would be just what we need after that mess with Rell."

"He said he was one of you. A Guardian." Tiana said weakly. Nikis grunted, but then nodded.

"That doesn't make him sane, girl."

"Far from it."


	11. Chapter 11

**Reveals**

"What do you mean, 'They are out of our reach'?"

As soon as Elder Tims had sent an alert out, Tenno of all sorts had converged on the colony. Many had come ready to assist, a few had come to say 'I told you so'.

"Tenno have no reliable defense against such attacks." The sole warframe clad escapee from the facility said calmly as he stood as he had since the Elders had been called in. Martin wasn't happy, but he understood the Elder's extreme displeasure. "If the projectors are set right, they can adapt almost as fast as Sentients can." More than one of the listeners winced. "The only good news is that they are very short range. If they were not?" He actually winced. "Orokin learned."

"Hard light." Mavri ignored Han's bluster to stare at the table they stood around, at the holographic diagrams of the secure psyche facility that had been provided. "That certainly explains a few things." He looked at the pair of warframes that stood off to the side and his face tightened. "Are you all right?"

Cathis Gata shook her head. She wasn't good at dealing with large crowds even now. After all the horrors she had endured, she wasn't exactly a social person in groups that she did not trust implicitly. But it was the _other_ warframe that had everyone tense.

The Mag warframe had simply appeared with Cathi Gata, daring anyone or everyone to say anything. No one dared even though several of the Elders had problems with the Caretakers. Elenia hadn't made a single wrong move, had simply walked in and stood with Cathi Gata. No one dared comment, especially when Cathi Gata had made it perfectly clear that she was ready and willing to defend Elenia. Considering that the Gersemi Valkyr clad Tenno was one of the few who could naturally control a Glaive in flight? She was _incredibly_ dangerous even for a Warrior Tenno and no one wanted to press her. Not to mention, Elenia had said she had information.

"Hard light holograms can be either incredibly helpful or incredibly dangerous." Elenia said quietly. "They don't have to be dangerous, but as has been shown, they _can_ be."

"Begging your pardon, Caretaker..." Another of the Elder's spoke and her tone held more than a bit of derision. "How would _you_ know that?"

Cathi Gata went still and Elenia laid a hand on her arm.

"It is a valid question, Cathi Gata." Elenia gave the Valkyr's arm a squeeze and Cathi Gata visibly relaxed. "Rudely put, but valid. To answer your question, Elder..." Elenia met the woman's gaze firmly. "We used them in the quarantine."

"You _did_?" Martin stared at her and then he nodded. "Of _course_. No chance of infection if the hologram never physically leaves the area. Very wise." Respect shone in his tone and Elenia nodded to him. "What can you tell us?"

He ignored the angry look the female Elder shot him. Raven, Mavri, Hans and Tims all looked calm.

"Our holograms were limited to the quarantine enclosures." Elenia said after a moment. "I wasn't the main hologram technician, but all we all learned a bit. There were not enough of us to remain specialized in every way. Hard light holograms are force fields that take the shape of whatever the hologram is. None of ours acted like the...characters that have been encountered." She had a grimace in her voice now. "That said, there are few limitations to such technology if applied properly."

"Or it faces a Sentient." Cathi Gata said tightly.

"Or that. Yeah." Elenia winced. "There is some question as to whether or not Sentients used such technology on occasion. It is not something that is ever likely to be answered. Certainly not safely."

"No, and no one who is not completely irrational is going to experiment." Mavri said flatly. "So… what happened here?"

"I can only surmise that the facility planned to use hard light to handle patients." Martin mused. "With so few staff, they had to use _something_." Most of the Elders nodded, but the angry one was still glaring at Elenia. Martin shook his head. "Elder..." He warned. "Don't."

"They are not going to like us." Elenia shrugged "Many think we spread the Virus."

"You _don't_." Mavri, Raven, Martin and Cathi Gata all chorused. All of them were glaring at the angry Elder who did not flinch.

"You won't change their minds." Elenia said mildly. "They have a right to their opinion just as we have a right to ours. What is important now is getting our friends out of there. The only good news I have heard is that this place is designed to keep Tenno alive." She suddenly choked back a sob and Cathi Gata laid a hand on her arm. "Seeing this place, his prison. It hurts."

"You should be thrown in there!" The female Elder said savagely.

 _Everyone_ glared at her and Tims had finally had enough.

"Elder Rilla, you are not welcome on my colony any more. Please leave." He declared. She drew herself up and Tims shook his head. "Antagonizing the Caretakers is a bad idea. Antagonizing them _here_ with Cathi Gata ready to tear you into _very_ small pieces at the first sign of physical hostility? That is just plain _dumb_."

"They are traitors!" The female Elder said savagely, only to freeze as Cathi Gata's hand clenched and her Glaive grew out from it. It hadn't been mounted on a hard point. She didn't _need_ one. Today, it took the form of a normal Glaive, but it wasn't one. Not hardly. She did not ready it, she just held it but that was more than enough.

"Actually no." All eyes turned to Mavri who moved to stand beside Elenia. "No matter what you might _think_ , they are following the commands of the First as they have since the quarantine was established. _They_ did not open the quarantine and let the Infested loose to fight the Sentients. _They_ protested when ordered to do so and were locked up. _You_ know not of what you speak, Elder Rilla. Stand down. Now. There will be no conflict between Tenno today. Cathi Gata is well within her rights to end any such in any way she deems fit. _Stand down_."

The female Elder glared around the room, but suddenly, she was the only one on that side of the room as everyone else moved to stand by Elenia. The Caretaker bowed her head, acknowledging the respect she was given, but Cathi Gata eyed Elder Rilla.

"Go, Rilla." Elder Tims said flatly. "You are not welcome here."

"You _cannot_ side with these scum..." The irate Elder was reaching for her waist and gave an 'eep' as Cathi Gata drew back her hand to throw. But Tims caught her arm and Cathi Gata froze in mid motion.

"My colony. My problem." Tims said mildly. Cathi Gata stared at him and then nodded, her Glaive vanishing. Tims strode to where Rilla stood frozen and shook his head. He took her by the arm and twisted, her face turning into grimace as he pulled her towards the door. "I know you are scared, but acting irrationally won't help _anyone_. Whatever you were going to do, no. I won't allow it. Go home, Rilla. Think on what you just did and know that the Caretakers are far more lenient of your insults than _I_ would be." This last was savage as he handed her off to a pair of security troops who had appeared at the door. "Get her to the portal. She is not welcome here until she learns some more self control."

Only after she was gone and the door was closed did Tims turn back to Elenia and bow from the neck.

"My apologies, Caretaker, but you do bother people." The Elder said with a shrug as he started back for the table that showed the diagrams of the facility.

"That is why I am here and not Jasmina." Elenia agreed. " _I_ can hold my tongue." She jerked and more than one of the others stared at her. Mavri chuckled.

"I assume Jasmina just... um…" He broke off as Elenia nodded jerkily. It wasn't common knowledge that Caretakers shared a link, but the Elders all knew.

"She made her displeasure felt, yes." Elenia sighed and relaxed. "This place… She couldn't see it in person and not try to burn it to ash. She found him here. I am the only one who could come. I am the only one left who remembers the quarantine procedures. They will be different here, but… I have to try. I won't leave Tiana and the others to suffer what Dust did."

"This place is _not_ the prison that held Tenno Dust for so long, Caretaker." Tims said quietly, beckoning her to the table. She moved and Cathi Gata moved with her. "I made _damn_ sure of that. If the main power _fails_ , the cells _open_. That might cause its own problems, but it is far better than the alternative." Elenia stared at him and he bowed his head. "What happened to Dust was a horror beyond imagining. The fact that he came out of it even remotely sane was a _miracle_. We do not know the pain that Jasmina feels having lost her mate, but we _all_ lost a _brother_."

Elenia reached out and slowly took the Elder's hand in her own. She gave it a squeeze. He scoffed and pulled her into a hug. She returned it very gently since she was in a warframe and then retreated.

"Can we cut the main power?" Mavri asked.

"As soon as Martin explained, I tried." Tims said heavily. "The facility is designed to be self sufficient. The power supply controls are internal. Here." He highlighted a spot on the holo and everyone scrutinized it.

"I will go in." Elenia said quietly. Everyone stared at her and Cathi Gata shook her head savagely. "Cathi Gata, I know these types of systems. I can get in. I can do this." The Valkyr moved to the door and blocked it, but paused as it opened and a voice sounded from outside.

"Not alone." Everyone went totally still as a cloaked woman entered the room, followed by two prime warframes, a Frost and a Rhino. Both held weapons in hand.

Elenia and Cathi Gata both froze as the woman threw back her hood and _the crown on her head started to glow!_

" _NO!_ " Cathi Gata and Elenia both declared, moving between the woman and the Elders. Both female Tenno had weapons in hand now. Neither of the Primes reacted. Martin just stood as if stunned. The Elders that remained stared at her. Raven jerked and moved to stand by Cathi Gata and Elenia.

"My name is Eliza." The woman said quietly. "I have more information."

"That is..." Mavri managed to stammer. "You… No..."

"No matter what else happens, Tenno Elder Mavri..." Eliza said quietly. "Know this: I have _no_ authority over Tenno. None. I do not rule Tenno. I do not command Tenno. I _know_ better."

"You cannot be here!" Cathi Gata said weakly. "Not with that!" She fell to her knees, keening.

"Cathi..." Eliza said sadly. "Oh Cathi." She paused and shook herself. "No. Cathi Gata is what you wished to be called now. A new start and a deserved one." She reached out slowly and laid a hand on Cathi's shoulder. "It was not your fault. I forgive you."

"You can't!" Cathi pleaded. "No! I don't..." She broke off the woman tapped her head. "No..."

"Get up." Eliza said in a tone of command. "Tenno kneel to _no one_. Least of all to _me_." Her hand reach down to take Cathi's arm and pulled. It should have been ludicrous, a human woman pulling a warframe to its feet. It wasn't somehow.

"Eliza was the name of the youngest daughter of the last Emperor." Tims said slowly. Eliza nodded to him. "You..."

"Technically, my name is Elizabeth Regina Natalie Sarah Portia Grousa Helga Bethany Rosha Silvia Isabella Rocca Flavia Mika Sina..." She broke off as Cathi coughed. "And fifty five other names plus the emperor's family name. Don't bother trying to remember them. Not even the most sycophantic of courtiers could remember them all without aid. I try _hard_ not to remember them all. When I ran away to live with the Tenno, I went by the name 'Eliza' and that suits me just fine. In the name of expediency, just call me Eliza."

"You… were the one Nikis brought when we were trying to get Karl to explain how Redi had escaped and Dust had fallen." Elder Hans was nothing like his normal self. He almost looked scared as Eliza nodded. "How the hell did even _Nikis_ manage _that_?"

"He can be very persuasive." Eliza said in a perfect deadpan.

Hans stared at her and then he jerked as his lips started to curl. Eliza smiled at him and he slumped a bit as the crown glowed little brighter.

"The crown." Cathi Gata pleaded. "You can't be out here with that!"

"Cathi Gata." Eliza laid her hand on the trembling Valkyr's arm. "The crown is just a _symbol_. It is a powerful symbol to be sure, but now _just_ a symbol with the database sealed." All of the Elders jerked at that and Eliza nodded. "That is why our feeble remnant was hidden away for so long. We were securing the only full access to the database. I claim no authority over anyone but my own domain. I had to come though. I was invited."

"What?" The chorus went around the room.

"I too have seen a fictional character come to life." Eliza said quietly. "One I knew long, long ago. Back when I first arrived among the Tenno. Before I healed and found my place among the Tenno of the time." Martin jerked and Eliza speared him with a glance "If _you_ want to question _him_ , be my guest. _I_ will not speak his secrets. I _know_ better."

"Uh… no." Martin actually gulped.

"Smart Tenno." Eliza's expression might have been called a smile. The same way shark's might. Then she relaxed. "I had to come." She repeated. "I know what this is and why it is and no, it is not a prison. It is not a mad AI taking control of a stupid excuse for a sanitarium. It is someone trying to _help_."

"Pardon me, Empress..." Mavri said slowly. "But how can we know if _you_ are a hard light hologram?"

"Good question." Eliza nodded to him and before anyone could move, reached out and grabbed the point of the Galatine Prime sword that the Frost Prime warframe who had accompanied her carried. Blood immediately started to fall even as the Tenno recoiled, his blade flashing away from her.

" _Eliza!_ " Every single warframe clad Tenno in the room exclaimed as one, matching tones of disgust, amazement and worry sounding.

Before anyone else could move, Cathi Gata had the Empress' hand in both of her own. She clucked as she rotated the hand gently. Eliza smiled as Cathi Gata's hands suddenly oozed green and the bleeding slowed.

"That was _dumb_ , Eliza." Cathi Gata said sternly. "He could have cut your _hand_ off!" She froze and would have recoiled, except Eliza clenched her wounded hand over the Valkyr's.

"Hard light holograms can bleed if programmed for it." Eliza said quietly. "But it doesn't look or act right. They also do not feel pain." She made a face. "And yes, I know that was dumb. But Cathi..." She paused and a look of desolation crossed her face. "No, no, Cathi Gata. I keep forgetting. I am sorry. I feel so strongly about this. About what happened. You were punished for what I did."

"You were _abused_!" Cathi Gata declared. "I dragged you back over and over every time you ran until the last. I didn't think it was wrong, what she was doing to you. Nothing about it seemed wrong and it _was!_ "

"My mother was a hell of a manipulator." Eliza said quietly as Cathi struggled feebly to get out of the Empress' grip without hurting her. "I have done a lot of thinking in the last few days. You need help and so do I. Both of us are still horrifically scarred by what she did. This place was meant to heal such hurts. Not as the doctors of this time think, but as originally intended. I have the codes to get in and out."

"No!" Cathi was still trying to get warframe hand out of Eliza's grip, but the Empress would not release her. "You can't. They need you."

"This won't hurt us." Eliza said firmly. "If harm had been desired, hard light holograms could have swarmed through this colony and _none_ here would have survived. What happened to Jill was an anomaly. I am not sure why one of them was sent to fight. That doesn't make any sense. He didn't build anything that would hurt people. It wasn't in him to do such."

"Him… wait..." Martin inhaled sharply. "You don't mean this is _Anatoly's_ _Library_?" At that, all of the Elders looked blank, but Martin hissed as Eliza nodded to him. "Holy fraking..." He broke off whatever else he was going to say as Eliza glared at him. "Sorry."

"Anatoly?" Mavri asked for the other Elders when all looked blank.

Martin looked at Eliza who shrugged. He nodded and started to speak.

"Anatoly was one of the second generation of Tenno. Not one of Hayden's first students." He paused and scoffed. "According to many sources, Hayden flatly refused to ever call them 'disciples'. Said it caused too many problems with religious types."

"That is true." Eliza said mildly and everyone looked at her. She shrugged. "Hey, I have sources too."

"So, this Anatoly was Tenno." Mavri mused. Eliza and Martin both nodded. "And he… what?"

"He decided he didn't want to be a warrior." Martin shook his head. "Not that anyone was going to force him to fight. He could and did on occasion, but he wasn't really a killer at heart. Not like Mag. Not like many of them. He was closest to Nyx, I think. He fought when he had to and only when he had to. He wasn't a pacifist, but he was non-violent when he could be. He decided to make something special."

"And he did." Eliza agreed. "No one has ever matched his Library."

"For good _reason_." Martin groaned. "No one could ever _find_ it!" Eliza chuckled and Martin stared at her.

"Because he hid it in plain sight."


	12. Chapter 12

**Home is where the heartache is**

"So... you know what to expect?"

Cathi Gata wasn't sure about this at all. Even less so than when Eliza had ordered her guards to wait for her outside and demanded that Cathi Gata escort her into the facility and _only_ Cathi Gata. Elenia had wanted to come in, but the Empress had only looked at her and shook her head. _Once_ getting the Caretaker killed was more than enough for the Empress. She _still_ remembered Nikis' rage on seeing the Mag warframe clad Caretaker dead at the foot of the Empress' throne.

 _Once_ having the ancient Guardian of the Dead threaten to kill every living soul on Avalon had been _more_ than enough.

"Not really." Eliza said mildly as they stood in front of the locked door that led to the facility. "I was invited and you need this."

"The clan needs me." Cathi Gata said weakly. "I still think I should stay out here." Eliza looked at her and Cathi Gata sighed. "Yes, I am afraid. I don't want to face it again."

"I have no right to command you or any right to compel you." Eliza said mildly. "The remainder of the clan will do well. They are Tenno, Cathi Gata." The name had only a minuscule hesitation now. "And even if they can't? They and you are not alone in this fight. The Lotus needs every Tenno, but she wants the best for her children, too."

"I know." Cathi Gata sighed and nodded. "I am as ready as I am going to be."

The human woman and the female Tenno both stilled as the door ahead of them clunked and opened. Cathi Gata went totally still as a small midnight blue form on four legs strode into view inside. It had wings and a horn on its forehead. A small crown sat in front of the horn. It nodded to the Empress.

"Hello again, Eliza." The small horse said in a kind voice. "You look good."

The casual informality grated on Cathi Gata, but before she could do more than bristle, Eliza laid a hand on her armored arm.

"Cathi Gata, this is Princess Luna." Eliza said quietly. "Where she comes from, she is my equal if not my superior." Cathi Gata stared from the Empress to the small blue horse and back. "She was never one for excessive formality."

"Protocol has its place." The dark horse smiled. "But decorum should never get in the way of friends greeting friends." She stepped forward and Eliza went to her knees, hugging the small horse who leaned into the embrace. Suddenly, the Empress was crying. "Oh, Liza..."

"Ah, Luna. I am a mess." Eliza sobbed as she held the horse.

"I know, Liza. I know." The horse replied as she let Eliza cling. "It is all right. We will do what we can." She looked from Eliza to Cathi Gata and frowned slightly. "Are you her only guard here then?"

"Luna, this is Cathi Gata." Eliza managed to stem the flow of her tears and hugged the horse again. "She is another that my mother hurt. She was… used by my mother to keep me in line and it hurt her badly, what my mother did."

" _Cathi_..." Luna stared at Cathi Gata and her gaze was stern. When she spoke again, anger sang in her voice. "You cried her name in your sleep many times while you were healing."

"It wasn't Cathi's fault!" Eliza protested. "My mother hurt her. Very badly. Cathi didn't know what she was doing!"

"But you still hate her for what she did." The horse slumped a bit. "I see."

"I shouldn't, but I do." Eliza was crying again. "Luna! Help!"

Cathi Gata stared from the normally stern and unbending Empress to the horse and blanched. What was the hologram doing to Eliza?

"I am letting her be herself." Luna answered Cathi Gata's unspoken question. "She _cannot_ be herself anywhere else. There are too many who need too much for her to let herself go anywhere else. Any crown is a burden. _That_ one is a crushing weight. She was and is up to it in ways that few would be, but even _she_ has limits."

The horse laid her head over Eliza's shoulder and a puff of blue smoke enveloped the crying woman. The Empress sighed, her face slowly going slack. She slumped a bit and then she stayed where she was when the horse moved to stand between the kneeling Empress and the stunned Cathi Gata.

"I will not let you hurt her again." The horse declared.

"I have hurt her enough." Cathi Gata said weakly. She slowly bowed to the horse, her eyes never leaving the horn and its wicked point. "Can you help her?"

"We can." The horse said slowly, her eyes on the Valkyr clad Tenno. "We are not sure if we can help you."

" _She_ is the important one, not me." Cathi Gata said quickly. Was that sorrow on the others face?

"Why?" The other asked gently. "Why are you not important?"

"I failed." Cathi Gata felt her heart break all over again, same as it had when Sun had shattered the controls that had been placed in her mind. She felt hot tears coursing down the inside of her helmet and no matter her skill or training, she couldn't stop crying. "Her father was destroyed in front of me, and I couldn't… I couldn't..."

"You are Royal Guard." Luna said quietly. "Your mind is closed to us just as hers is. We know her, from before. So we can help her. But you… We don't know you." Cathi Gata heard the door shut behind her and lock, but she was unable to move now. "Are you willing to let us try to help?" The horse asked, moving closer.

"So tired. So scared. So alone even with family and friends." Cathi Gata said weakly. "I just… I want..."

"You want to belong." The horse's voice was odd now, and she couldn't see the horse or the Empress. It sounded sad and male. "But your trust was shattered. You cannot trust anyone now."

"I could trust Karl and then he _died!_ " Cathi Gata screamed the last. She staggered and then slumped, her emotions running free. "I can't… I can't..."

"Enough, child." A female voice sounded from nearby and Cathi Gata froze as a Tenno woman walked out of the mists that surrounded her now. No. This wasn't a Tenno! Cathi wasn't sure _what_ this being was, but she wasn't a Tenno. She wore a bluer gown trimmed with green. "We know your pain. We know your fear. We understand betrayal, Cathi Gata. You need rest."

"But...the Empress..." Cathi Gata begged, staring around wildly.

"Eliza is currently attending a birthday party for a certain small pink horse." The woman held out a slim hand to Cathi Gata who stared down at herself as she realized something odd. She was wearing a red gown? She had _never_ worn a gown! The woman grinned. "No need for armor here, Cathi Gata. No one can touch you here. No one can harm you here."

"Where am I?" Cathi Gata begged as the woman took a step closer.

"This is the Library." The woman said gently. "This is not real. Your body in its warframe is being moved into one of the cells where it will be warded against all harm until your session is done."

"I… I don't know." Cathi Gata was stunned at this. She was stammering now. "The others?"

"Jill is asleep and will remain that way for some time, poor dear." The woman said with a sad look on her face. "She nearly passed away despite everything we could do but we were in time. She is too asleep to even read, but it is better for her now to sleep. The others are all reading and will be done in an hour or so of real time. They may choose to read more, or they may choose to leave. In the end, it is always the choice of the reader, not the librarian."

"Reading?" Cathi Gata asked, confused. "This is the Library. Anatoly's library."

"Yes it is." The woman standing in front of her smiled. "I am glad someone other than Nikis remembered. That Tenno is nuts."

"You don't _say!_ " Cathi Gata managed a hint of her normal fire and the woman in front of her smiled wider.

"You are not beyond saving, my dear." The other extended her hand to Cathi Gata who stared at it. "This is outside your field of knowledge, so a certain amount of trepidation is totally understandable. You have been controlled, an absolute horror for Tenno of any kind, let alone Royal Guard. The one true check on the Emperors of old."

"We failed." Cathi Gata said in a tiny voice. "Orokin fell."

"It was _always_ going to fall, child." The other took another step closer and now, she was right beside Cathi Gata who stared at her through streaming eyes. "No matter how evil or benevolent, human empires _do not last_." She said firmly. "Even if the status quo is maintained through mind control or whatever, humans are endlessly inventive in finding ways around the rules for their own benefit. And even with the best of intentions, humans cannot maintain things forever. I am a case in point. I tried too. I failed too."

"Are you real?" Cathi Gata asked, scared now for some reason she could not define.

"No. I am from a story, just like the other characters that you have seen. I never wanted to hurt anyone." The other reassured her. Her face turned pensive. "I wanted to make a difference, find love, have children. Instead, plots and betrayals made sure that the only child I could bear destroyed everything that I held dear. I know about being betrayed, child, I know it well."

"May I know your name?" Cathi Gata asked as she took the hand of the woman who grasped it gently.

"Certainly." The woman smiled as Cathi Gata relaxed. "My name is Morgaine. Often called Morgan La Fey." The Tenno froze as memory surfaced and the woman scowled. "Oh yes. I know. The betrayer. The evil woman who tricked Arthur into siring the son who destroyed him. Most people remember Mallory's work and don't realize he wrote in a time when women who sought any kind of power were evil and abominable." She growled in annoyance "I am from a _different_ story. One in which Geneviere and I were the _best_ of friends until she turned into a fanatic. She married my brother and I tried to love her as a sister. What happened broke my heart. It wasn't really her fault, my fault or even _Galahad's_ fault, that _letch_. It was going to happen no matter what, Christianity and the old faith could not co-exist. Arthur got caught in the middle."

" _King_ … Arthur..." Cathi Gata said weakly.

"I generally call him 'Moron' or 'Idiot' these days, myself." Morgaine said with sigh. "But that is not fair. He was _never_ the brightest of bulbs off the battlefield, but he _knew_ that. And yes, he thought with his _other_ head far to often, but most men do that."

"What happened?" Cathi Gata realized the mist that had obscured her vision was gone. She was now standing in a large outdoor space, stones lay scattered about, some standing, some fallen. Some kind of amphitheater?

" _Long_ story." Morgaine said with a sigh. But then she smiled and sat on one of the fallen stones. "That is why you are here, is it not?" She paused as a blanket appeared nearby and then her face tuned thunderous as a basket appeared on it. Was that a _bottle_ that was sticking out of it? "Oh, no you don't, you sick freaks!" Cathi Gata stared as the woman in front of her waved a hand and the blanket vanished. Morgaine sighed and relaxed. "Don't ever eat or drink anything the Fae give you. They can't hurt you here, but they _will_ mess you up."

"What would happen?" Cathi Gata asked, fascinated despite herself.

"Your story would change and not in a good way." Morgaine said with a snarl. She forced herself to relax. "The Fae have odd senses of humor by most peoples' standards and they think nothing about tricks that would kill a mortal. Here? Your story would change and you would be stuck in it until you finished. Most of the ones they would choose would count as horror, even the fairy tales. You wouldn't die, you can't here. But it would be _very_ unpleasant. You have had enough horror happen to you. Not on _my_ watch."

"Thank you." Cathi Gata said a bit weakly as she sat on a fallen pillar. "This is very strange." The sun was warm on her skin, but not uncomfortable.

"Oh yes. So, are you ready?" Morgaine asked in a gentle voice. "I warn you, this story is not fun, but it does resonate with what you went through."

"Who wrote it?" The seated Tenno asked.

"Someone named Bradley." The other woman said with frown. "The rest of the name was lost in time. So… the story..." She sat back and closed her eyes, then she started to speak.

'In my time I have been called many things: sister, lover, priestess,

wise-woman, queen. Now in truth I have come to be wise-woman,

and a time may come when these things may need to be known. But

in sober truth, I think it is the Christians who will tell the last tale. For

ever the world of Fairy drifts further from the world in which the

Christ holds sway. I have no quarrel with the Christ, only with his

priests, who call the Great Goddess a demon and deny that she ever

held power in this world. At best, they say that her power was of

Satan. Or else they clothe her in the blue robe of the Lady of

Nazareth-who indeed had power in her way, too-and say that she was

ever virgin. But what can a virgin know of the sorrows and travail of

mankind?

And now, when the world has changed, and Arthur-my brother, my

lover, king who was and king who shall be-lies dead (the common

folk say sleeping) in the Holy Isle of Avalon, the tale should be told

as it was before the priests of the White Christ came to cover it all

with their saints and legends.

For, as I say, the world itself has changed. There was a time when a

traveller, if he had the will and knew only a few of the secrets, could

send his barge out into the Summer Sea and arrive not at Glastonbury

of the monks, but at the Holy Isle of Avalon for at that time the gates

between the worlds drifted within the mists, and were open, one to

another, as the traveller thought and willed. For this is the great secret,

which was known to all educated men in our day: that by what men

think, we create the world around us, daily new.'

Cathi Gata lost herself in the words as the hologram of what had been one of the most reviled woman in chivalric legend spoke to her.

* * *

Outside

Tiana smiled as she strode out of the cell in which she had woken and into the facility. She shook her head at what she had encountered. It had been _fascinating_ , talking to Sherlock Holmes, but she had duties and he wouldn't keep her from them. It was odd. He didn't judge. He didn't declare. He led the way with his massive intellect and his incredible skill with logic and deduction. He had his foibles, of course, most did. But even as a fictional character, he felt… real as odd as that sounded. Then had brought a man named Freud in to talk to her about her deep seated rage at her own creation and she felt freer than she had in her entire life. She still was Tenno, she still had a duty, but it wasn't crushing her now.

Which was the whole point.

She looked around and most of the cells around her were dark, closed or empty. A few had lights on the status panels and she stayed away from them. She had been told that disconnecting people from the library wouldn't hurt them, but they would be _very_ confused at best for a time. She paused as one door opened and Iriana stepped out, the Healer's eyes alight.

"Iriana." Tiana's voice held warmth and the Healer smiled at her as she strode to join the Nyx Prime clad warlord. "Did you have fun?"

"I did." Iriana looked younger, brighter than she had since Tiana had met her. "That was… I don't think I have the words."

"I saw you talking to Hippocrates." Tiana said with a smile as Iriana flushed. "Did it go well?"

"Um, sort of." Iriana shrugged. "Their 'medicine' was cloaked in mythology so a lot of what they knew wasn't… strictly scientific." She made a face. "We had some...disagreements."

"Hmm, it got loud then. Glad I stayed away." Tiana chuckled as Iriana flushed brighter. "And then?"

"So many people. So many people who I heard about but never _imagined_ talking to." Iriana was nearly gushing. "Marie Curie. Louis Pasteur. Florence Nightingale..."

"You realize I don't know who _any_ of those people are?" Tiana complained whimsically.

"We can come back." Iriana paused and then slumped a little. "Can't we?" She begged.

"I don't see any reason why not." Tiana shrugged. "We have our duty. We are Tenno. We serve. But there is nothing in the Code that says we have to drive ourselves crazy doing so, is there?"

"We are supposed to take care of ourselves, both mentally and physically." Iriana slumped a bit more. "I haven't been."

"You went through several incredibly traumatic episodes." Tiana reassured the Healer. "You were going to have problems. We knew this from the beginning, Healer. Sister to sister..."

"...Yours in life and death." Iriana reached out to hug the warframe. "Thank you, Tiana. This wasn't what I expected in my wildest dreams. All I knew was that Jill was hurt and I had to come. But she is okay. I looked at her and she is going to be fine."

"You saw her?" Tiana asked quickly. Iriana nodded. "How…? How is she?"

"Asleep and she will be that way for some time." Iriana sighed. "Getting her here nearly killed her, but the trip back to the dojo might have. A portal that far definitely _would_ have. They are feeding her energy slowly and carefully, letting her build her own reserves back up. It is the exact same thing I would do. They know what they are doing and she is safe in that cell." Iriana made a face. " _Never_ thought I would say _that_."

"Me neither." Tiana agreed. "But we are alive, and whole. I feel… better myself after a few long talks."

"With who?" Iriana asked as the pair made their way to the stairs that led to the facility entrance.

"Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud." Tiana replied. Iriana stopped in mid-step, staring at her and Tiana shrugged. "You know I have always had some deep seated anger issues. They helped."

"Holmes and Freud, that is a _hell_ of a combination." Iriana smiled wide. "I think I _like_ this place."

"You and me _both_ , Healer." Tiana sighed in faint regret. "But we cannot stay here."

"I know." Iriana made a noise of sadness but then nodded. "The real world has to come first."

They exited the facility and froze as several guards, two automated weapons platforms and two Tenno in warframes all aimed weapons at them.

"Hello?" Iriana said slowly. Tiana edged slightly in front of the Healer and half of the weapons tracked her. "What is going on?" The Healer inquired as Tiana tensed, ready to fight.

A hologram of Elder Tims appeared and his face was sick.

"How do we know that you two are not those hard light things?"

* * *

 **For those who may not know, Morgaine and the quote are from Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon A VERY different take on the legends of King Arthur. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Meetings**

Tiana did not speak, simply moved to stand in front of Iriana who glared at the massed weapons aimed at the pair of Tenno. The Healer shook her head and then relaxed as an irate voice sounded from nearby.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Elenia demanded as she came into view. "You better _pray_ Nikis doesn't hear about this." She snapped, her hands at her sides. She bore no obvious weapons, but Mag warframes _were_ weapons. If she threw a Magentize anywhere nearby, the guards wouldn't hit anything but what she wanted them to. "He likes Iriana and not many other people. You shoot her and you better run far and fast."

"Run from _Nikis_?" Iriana asked, incredulous. Then she scoffed, but she was smiling. "Yeah, right. Like _that_ is going to work." She looked from Elenia to the hologram of the Elder and shook her head. "You should know that the Library only mimics fictional characters. We are not fictional characters. Or..." She paused. "I don't _think_ we are."

"Let's _not_ start an existential debate here." Elenia sighed but she too was smiling from her tone. "We were worried."

The guards didn't move and neither did Tiana. Her hands were not on her weapons, but they were close.

"We need to be sure." Tims said flatly. "Several of the stories from Orokin times about hard light holograms are horrifying."

"The Library cannot mimic real life people." Iriana's tone was just as flat. "But if you insist..." She reached out to Tiana who shook her head. "Tiana, just a small cut."

"No one is cutting you, Healer." Tiana said firmly. "The Lotus can confirm we are who we say we are. _No one_ is touching Iriana." This last was savage.

 _Lotus!_ Iriana begged. _My Warlord is being a pain._

 _Can you blame her?_ The Lotus' voice sounded in Iriana's head and all of the Tenno in the area relaxed. _You vanished with Jill and the Orokin did like their tech toys. You have been hurt enough._

"I don't like the thought of hurting myself either." Iriana moved to stand by Tiana. The automated weapons did not deactivate, but the flesh and blood guards did relax. "Elder… The Library is not a threat."

"Where is Tenno Jill?" Tims demanded.

"Sleeping and she will _stay_ that way until she recovers. The Library saved her life." Iriana snapped, her patience fleeing. "Either stand the weapons down or shoot us and if you shoot us, this is going to get _very_ messy, _very_ quickly." She crossed her arms and glared at the Elder.

"The Orokin used hard light holograms as spies on several occasions." Martin sounded a bit sheepish as he moved into view. The Harrow warframe did not have any weapons in hand and his posture was one of relief.

"The Library was never designed for such." Iriana scowled at the male Tenno. "It is a place of rest."

"Then how do you explain what happened to Jill?" Martin asked, his tone calm and assured.

"I can't." Iriana said with a sigh as she relaxed, ignoring the automated weapons now. "Everything I have seen, they have been gentle, kind and very professional. So the character who assaulted Jill is an anomaly."

She jerked as the guards took aim again, but not at _her_. Tiana pulled her to the side as something wafted its way out of the doors. It was a large blue diamond that hung in mid-air.

"What happened to Tenno Jill was not anticipated." The voice from the diamond was familiar. Both Iriana and Tiana relaxed. They had both heard the voice of the Library. No one else did. "If Tenno Isha had entered our care, she would have perished. Our primary mandate is to protect Tenno. We could not let her in."

"Who are you?" Tims demanded.

"In life, my name was Anatoly." The energy diamond replied. "Now? I am a Cephalon. This is a communication device, no more. You cannot harm it but I did not wish suspicion to fall on these Tenno. I like them. I hope they can be my friends."

"I hope that too." Iriana said quietly. "Is Anatoly still your name?"

"It will serve." The Cephalon assured her. "What happened to Tenno Jill is ultimately the responsibility of the Library. The form that assaulted her came from one of the minds that sleeps here. I did not mean harm to any Tenno. I do not understand how that particular hard light got there or why. I need to understand. As you have no doubt been told, hard light is incredibly dangerous if uncontrolled or badly controlled. I took steps to save Tenno Jill, but I was nearly too late. That is my responsibility and I take such things very seriously, Elder."

" _One_ of the minds?" Tiana and Tims both said quickly.

"I needed to sequester the staff to save Tenno Isha." The Cephalon said calmly. "She would not have survived long in any of the cells no matter what the staff did. They are sleeping and reading,"

"You did right. Medical emergencies are rarely convenient for anyone." Iriana reassured the Cephalon which pulsed a purple color for a moment before returning to blue. She scowled. "Although pulling us in without warning was rather rude."

"I am a mass of protocols." The Cephalon said a bit sheepishly. "My primary one is not to let harm come to Tenno who enter my domain. I couldn't help Dust." He sounded abject and everyone stared at the Cephalon. "All if the members of your clan who I could sense nearby needed help. Especially you, Healer."

"I did." Iriana bowed her head. "So, for myself? Thank you. But you owe the others an apology."

"I know." The Cephalon turned in mid-air to face Tiana. "I give formal apology, Tenno Warlord Tiana. I meant no offense, but my primary function has always been to aid Tenno. I deemed it an emergency. I will offer what restitution I can."

"Saving Jill's life goes a long way in my own book, but the others may think differently." Tiana warned. "For me, apology accepted." She shook her head. "But if _you_ didn't attack Jill, who _did_?"

"That character is from an ancient entertainment media called a 'video game'." The Cephalon that had once been a Tenno named Anatoly said with a bob of its whole self to her. "Three of the staff were reading such ancient media. I left them alone, only monitoring their life signs and their emotional stability. Such things are private, only to be shared if the recipient deems it necessary."

"Another protocol?" Iriana asked. The Cephalon bobbed again, she assumed it was a nod of sorts. "Well, if there is a problem, then as you say, those things can be very dangerous. We need to figure out how it got there and why."

"Where are Olim and Quais?" Tiana asked. "I assume most of the clan is en-route since I was incapacitated so suddenly."

 _Actually, of your clan only Tenno Ming and Tenno Rica are_ _nearby_ _. Tenno Olim was involved in the latest Retribution strike against Vay Hek and is returning from Phobos now._ The Lotus was calm in Tiana's mind. _The rest of your clan are still working. I knew you were alive, but trapped. They decided that they needed to keep working rather than crowd the colony._

"Good." Tiana nodded. "I had hoped for such. We do get a little overprotective of each other sometimes."

"You don't _say!_ " A number of others said in the same ironic tone and Tiana waved at them irritably.

"We will need Olim or Quais as well as Ric." Tiana mused as she turned to the Cephalon. "If that is all right with you?" The Cephalon was silent for a moment and then it spoke again, slowly.

"One protocol is to protect Tenno." The computerized voice was solemn. "Another is to protect the Library. This is a place of rest, of healing, of learning. Not a place to cause harm. If I have caused harm, then I must determine why and seek to alleviate it."

"Why were those forms sent out in the first place?" Iriana asked. "The guy on the robot, the ones who helped me… The one who saved Isha, I can understand, but the others?"

"I cannot say, Healer." The Cephalon sounded upset now. "I want to. But I cannot. Another protocol binds that."

"Joy. This sounds like a software issue." Tiana sighed deeply. "We need a Cyberlancer then. Is your hardware still capable?"

"Fully online, Tenno Warlord Tiana." The Cephalon replied. "I can authorize service to be performed, but the only one who knows the codes to enter the control area is Eliza."

"And she is going to be busy for a while." Martin said with a grunt. Tiana and Iriana stared at him and the Harrow warframe nodded. "She came. She said she was invited and um..." Both looked horrified and Martin shook his head. "Only the Elders and I know who she is and that is the way it will remain."

"Her guards _let_ her in there?" Tiana demanded.

"Ah, no. She only took Cathi Gata." Martin had a scowl in his voice now as he stared at the Cephalon. "When she didn't come out within an hour, they followed her in. I assume they are also...ensconced."

"Cathi Gata _and_ Eliza..." Iriana shook her head stunned. "Anatoly? Are they… all right?" She asked the Cephalon.

"Yes." The long dead Tenno reassured her. "All Tenno in the Library are in good health as is Eliza. Their vitals are strong and their emotions are calm. Neither of the two you named is in any distress. I do not pry but I do monitor for safety." Iriana nodded and relaxed her shoulders that had tensed.

"That s good." Iriana sighed and shook her head as the weapons emplacements finally powered down. "So now we wait for Olim or Quais?"

"I assume Jesse is not available." Tims said from his hologram.

"You assume right." Tiana shook her head. "After all the messes that crazy girl got up to, no one is letting her out of her lab for a long, _long_ time."

"Locking a Tenno up is not good for them." The Cephalon said quickly, but Tiana just shook her head. Iriana replied.

"She is not locked up." Iriana reassured the Cephalon. "But it is safer for everyone _else_ if she is not running around _loose_." She groaned in memory. "She never _means_ to cause problems. They just happen around her. I swear, that girl is a bad luck magnet."

"I have thought the same about Janna." Tiana snorted. Iriana glared at her Warlord but the Healer's heart wasn't really in it. Janna _was_ a handful at times. The Healer shrugged to acknowledge the point. "They were teenage humans who got shifted to Tenno through extraordinary circumstances. They are not going to be normal in any way." Everyone stared at her and _she_ shrugged.

"Yeah, I know. No Tenno is _normal_."

* * *

Deep space

It was a beautiful view and even with everything, it was totally worth it.

Tenno Aziz hung on his Itzal Archwing as he watched the ship he had commanded come apart under the fire of a squadron of Galleons and a Formorian. He hadn't expected the Jolly Roger to last as long as it had. Grineer numbers _should_ have put paid to his dream of living as pirate in a matter of days, but he had reckoned without the fundamental arrogance that pervaded the clones' entire being. They simply could not imagine someone impersonating one of their ships.

He had also reckoned without the former crew's sneakiness and efficiency.

The ship had been incredibly easy to run as well as being incredibly stealthy. Grineer were nothing if not obedient. It had been pure simplicity to 'borrow' a company of Grineer Marines and then get them to fight for the ship. A few fake orders, a lot of miscommunication and the Grineer had been chasing ghosts across the system while Aziz had been purloining valuable cargos right and left. He stopped counting credits after the first billion, it didn't seem worth his time. The money wasn't aboard the ship, he wasn't that stupid.

He had known all along that his time was limited and eventually, the Queens had caught on and sent ships after him. He had hidden, played cat and mouse thought various places, but near the orbit of Saturn, his luck had run out. The ship had run smack dab into the Queens' Kuva Fortress as it sailed around the system. The armada that had poured from that to hem in and then batter the Jolly Roger to pieces had been huge. Over a dozen galleons had englobed the Jolly Roger and then a Formorian had entered the fight. He was pleased that the clone crew of the Jolly Roger had done so well. Three enemy Galleons had taken damage and one looked like a complete wreck. As soon as the Fomorian had closed the range, the battle was over. Two super laser shots and the Jolly Roger was left to drift, but amazingly some of her guns were _still_ firing at the Galleons that were pounding the hulk. He shook his head. Say what you would about Grineer, they could be tough.

He had left the ship as soon as it was clear it was doomed, but he hadn't left the area. He wanted to watch. To witness the overt part of Peter's vengeance finally end. That crazy clone had been something else. Not anything like any Grineer had had ever imagined. He had known on meeting the clone that Peter and his people would die loudly. They would die hard and in pain, but they would die hurting the Grineer and that was something a Tenno could appreciate. Even if Peter and company hadn't worked so hard to help the girl they called Swan, Aziz might have helped them _anyway_.

He knew that historical pirates were nothing like fictional pirates, but he still had to restrain a 'Yo ho' as a final salvo from the Jolly Roger tore out and _another_ loyalist Galleon went dark. Dead in space. He watched as the Formorian beam licked out again and _this_ time, the beam hit the reactor. The Jolly Roger came apart in a soundless bright flash. Pieces of the pirate Galleon flew every which way, but he was too far from the conflict to be in any danger any time soon.

 _Ah well. That was fun while it lasted._ Aziz sighed as he looked around. Then he sighed again. He was going to have to call for a ride, he had never received a ship. That would suck, but he was Tenno. He adapted and survived. He could handle some embarrassment. He braced himself. _Lotus_

 _Are you done playing?"_ The Lotus demanded. _While you have been busy gallivanting around thumbing your nose at the Grineer_ _and making yourself rich_ _, the whole system_ _ha_ _s_ _been_ _falling into chaos._

Aziz stiffened, She was really angry! With him? Hard to say.

 _You know most of the money is going to charities, Lotus._ Aziz said quietly. He had already set that up. _I am not that selfish. I have needs, but I am not stupid about them._

 _I do. I am sorry, Aziz, I shouldn't snap at you even when you irritate me. A friend just did something very stupid that frightened me a great deal._ The Lotus reassured him. _I know your heart is in the right place and you_ **did** _mess the Grineer up nicely. But things have become very complex and the probabilities are unclear. The ship?_

 _Destroyed._ Aziz heaved a sigh. _It was dirty, smelly and very nasty looking, but it was mine. Peter's crew were good people, Lotus. All of them. Not nice, but good._

 _I know. So… you are drifting somewhere._ The Lotus sounded distracted for a moment and then she focused. _Near Saturn?_

 _Enjoying the view._ Aziz smirked as one of the disabled Galleons suddenly blew up. Grineer ideas of 'damage control' were haphazard at best at times. But then he paused. Something was happening near the Galleons. All of them! _What the?_

 _What is going on?_ There was no way he could miss the Lotus' sudden tension.

 _Whoa!_ Aziz felt something pass by close enough that he felt heat blossom through his warframe's insulation and shields. He stared at… the long cylinder with flanges coming off it -wings?- and multiple bright spots near the back. Those had to be engines of some kind, but they looked outlandish, silly even. Its nose was conical and came to a sharp point. the whole thing looked like it belonged in an atmosphere, not space. Not like any spacecraft he had ever seen, but it was moving towards the Grineer Fomorian with intent now. _Someone is attacking the Grineer. Not Corpus! Someone_ **else** _!_

 _Whoever it is is unlikely to be friendly to a Tenno!_ The Lotus warned. _Boost away!_

He tried, he really did, but something grabbed hold of his Archwing even in its stealth and he was suddenly being pulled into another ship that had appeared nearby. He was pulled into the ship and his sensors detected atmosphere as many forms that he did not recognize surrounded him. He jerked in his warframe, but whatever held him was far too powerful to fight. A visible beam of bright red speared him and his cloak failed, leaving to the now frustrated Tenno hang in mid air.

"A spy!" A cry went up around the deck. Whoever these were, he understood them. So… The interior looked garish, as if someone had decided that 'opulent' was the proper décor for spacecraft.

 _Aziz?_ The Lotus was very worried now.

 _I don't know what is going on._ Aziz said flatly. _I was pulled into a ship, but it is not like anything I have seen._

 _We may lose coms._ The Lotus said quickly. _If so, be very careful. We have seen a number of hard light holograms recently, some benign, some extremely dangerous._

 _Hard light?_ Aziz stared around and nodded slowly to himself. This kind of craft was totally implausible. There were windows with what looked like _wooden screens_ for god's sake! On a _spacecraft_! On a second look however, no, they were force fields covering gaudy painted steel. But that did not reassure him. He could see ships outside those windows, dozens of ships like the one he had seen before.

An aisle was suddenly in front of him and a dais appeared in the distance with three forms on it. The female human who knelt by the throne looked cowed, but still defiant despite the chains on her wrists. The weird looking robot at her side held a menacing looking if outlandish weapon aimed at her but it was the _third_ form on the dais that caught Aziz' eyes.

The thin human in ornate robes scowled as he stared at the caught Tenno, his face lining with rage as he stroked his thin mustache and beard.

"Who _dares_ to spy on Ming the Merciless?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Flash!**

 **Who** _the_ **what** _?_

Tenno Aziz simply stared at the man and then around as much as he could. He was surrounded by a hostile force, but none of them looked… Wait a minute. Many of them looked wrong to his senses. Through one of the many windows, he could see a Grineer Galleon explode in the distance but his focus was on his own predicament.

"Hawkman scum!" One of the soldiers nearby struck Aziz with some kind of polearm, but the weapon bounced off his armor and did nothing to his warframe. Aziz looked at the soldier, it wore some kind of uniform and face concealing mask. Such was probably supposed to be frightening. Too bad Aziz was Tenno and far more frightening than any soldier could be. "The Emperor asked a question!"

 _He is not my Emperor._ Aziz said snidely in his mind. _Lotus I am on a weird looking spacecraft commanded by someone called Ming the Merciless._ He couldn't resist a snicker at that. _I guess all the_ **good** _names for evil scum were taken._

 _What? Great, another fictional character brought to life._ The Lotus sounded almost punch drunk. _I will do some quick research._

 _I will just… hang around._ This time, Aziz's chuckle must have been audible.

"You think this is funny?"The soldiers demanded, raising his weapon again.

"I don't know about _you_ , but _I_ think it is hilarious." The loud voice from the woman was both dry and cutting. "Your Legions of Terror are getting a bit softer in the brain, huh Ming?"

"Be silent, woman." The one called Ming backhanded the restrained woman and she fell to the floor of the dais, dabbing her lip. "You _will_ learn your place, Human Ardan."

"Oh, I know my place and this is not it." The woman, Ardan, said with a smile as she stared at the Tenno. "Even a fool can see that is not a Hawkman, but hey, your legions are recruited for _strength_ , not _brains_." Aziz stared at her. He was starting to like this human. Even bound in chains at the feet of an obvious madman, she was enjoying herself. "I don't know what that is, but it is not a Hawkman. Not that your 'superior' mind can fathom such things. I am surprised you can _walk_ with that amount of brainpower.."

"Be silent!" The one called 'Ming' raised a hand and a ray of some kind shot from it to slam into the woman who gave a small moan and fell over to lie still. Aziz had seen enough. He cut the ties to his Archwing and as he had half suspected, when the it released him, the shields that it projected to provide life support in space held the immobilization beam away from his warframe. He landed on his feet and drew his Sydon. He hadn't had a chance to get any new weapons, but the Grineer ones he had re-purposed served just fine. The Gorgon, Nukor and Sydon were not pretty, but they worked.

 _You cannot hurt them!_ The Lotus warned. _If they are hard light, they are force fields. Not flesh and blood. They can adapt to project many kinds of energy._

 _Which can hurt_ **me** _._ Aziz said grimly. _Well, hard light or no, that scum is tortur_ _ing_ _a human in front of me. I won't stand by and let it happen._

 _Tenno Aziz…_ The Lotus said weakly and then sighed. _Be careful._

 _Hey. Its me._ Aziz treasured the sputtering sound that came from the Lotus as he looked from side to side. The soldiers all had weapons in hand now, some rifle like things, others held nasty looking swords and pole-arms.

"You will speak or you will _die_!" The one who called himself Ming said in what was probably supposed to be a dramatic voice. Kela De Thayam did the same in the Rathuum broadcasts he had seen that were the sole form of entertainment Grineer were allowed to watch. It worked almost as well for Ming as it did for Kela. That is, not at all. Aziz was not impressed. His silence seemed to infuriate the other who snarled. "So be it. Kill him."

The closest ranks of soldiers all leveled weapons at him and he stared. They were not going to… They _were!_ He dissolved into his Undertow as both ranks on either side of him opened fire at the same time. Instead of bullets or beams, or whatever, he saw some kind of energy he could not define fly. Whatever those weapons were, they were powerful. He heard the woman chortle as at least _thirty_ of the soldiers shot each other. Most of the ones who were hit fell without a sound. That was less that tithe of the number of troops in the bay, but the look on Ming's face was priceless. The human at his feet was laughing.

"Okay. _That_ I did not expect." The woman whistled in appreciation and Aziz smiled as the Tenno reformed himself. Prisoner or no, she had spirit. "Cool ability."

"Kill that thing!" Was Ming frothing at the mouth? It sure looked like it.

Even the stupidest of soldiers could learn and the ones with rifles slung them to draw swords. Aziz looked at the human, shook his head slowly and summoned his most powerful ability. The area was suddenly filled with screams as the tentacles that he summoned sprouted out of many surfaces and started slamming around. Aziz had never really been sure if the Void spawned the things, if there was an actual creature that they came from, or if maybe they too were hard light, but no matter. They worked. That was enough for him. The Tenno kept his eyes on the 'Ming' person as the army that had been crowding close was suddenly fleeing. Some of them hacked or shot at the tentacles. It did almost as much good as when Corpus or Grineer did the same. None.

The would be Emperor was spouting curses, promising foul retribution to the cowards who were failing him even though there was no way for them to fight this.

Aziz raised a hand off his polearm, looked at Ming, held up one finger and slowly wagged said finger from side to side. The human woman was laughing hard now. Then she screamed as the robot fired its weapon. She fell and lay still, a burnt patch on her chest. Her chest rose and fell, she was still alive. Ming was raising his hand at Aziz who held his Sydon to parry when a large bolt of energy came from above and the robot fell, sparking.

"MING!" A loud angry voice called from near the roof of the craft and Aziz was hardly the only one to gawk as a human in some kind of tight costume jumped down from there to land in the dais. He had blonde hair and a furious look on his face.

"GORDON!" The one called Ming produced a sword form somewhere and the newcomer snatched up a fallen sword. They fought back and forth as Aziz watched other humans appear from the ceiling, these sliding down on ropes. Others hidden up there were firing similar weapons to the ones the soldiers had and were far better trained. Aziz could see they were picking their targets and hitting what they aimed at where the 'Emperor's legion were spraying the area and not hitting much besides the walls and ceiling.

Then the world turned red.

Aziz jerked back as both sides of the room he was in showed large holes after the red flash. He stared out at open space as the humans who had been fighting turned from combat to survival. That had been the Fomorian's main gun. It had to be. But,… he knew how strong Grineer hulls were, very well. He knew how powerful the Fomorian beam was, both from research and seeing it fired at his own ship. The holes that the beam had made were barely human sized. That wasn't possible.

Aziz kicked himself. How much of this _was_ possible?

"DALE!" The one called Gordon shouted as the human woman slid towards one of the holes but Ming was striking at him and he had to defend himself.

Aziz was in motion before he even realized he was. He Tidal Surged forward, throwing a few luckless soldiers off their feet, grabbed the unconscious woman and pulled her away form the hull breach, which wasn't acting like a hull breach. He had seen hull breaches on the Jolly Roger. The atmosphere was venting, but slowly. Far too slowly to be natural. He shook his head as he carried the woman from the fighting that was general now. All of the combatant skirted his still writing ability tentacles, which was wise of them.

"Dale!" An older human appeared nearby as if by magic. He wore a white tunic and his face was serious. "Give her to me." Aziz nodded and handed her to the human who laid the woman at his feet. Aziz took up a guard position, seeing a human in green doing likewise. The other was aiming not quite at Aziz who ignored him.

"Zharkov?" The green clad man asked carefully as the older human worked. "Flash is getting tired and Ming has a lot more troops on this tub."

"Dale is alive. Hurt but alive. That bot was set to kill her if she tried to escape. She didn't." The one called Zharkov said with a grunt as he sat back, a satisfied look on his face. "She will be her usual self in a few days, Barin."

"I don't know whether to be thankful for that or not." The one called Barin muttered. Aziz did not react, simply watched as the battle became a rout. "We need to go. I don't suppose you can teleport us off this barge?" He asked Aziz who shook his head. "Figured."

 _Tenno Aziz, I need to speak to these._ The Lotus sounded wary in his head. _I think I know who they are, but if so, we need to know how they got here._

 _Lotus…_ For once, Aziz had no humor in his mind tone. _The Fomorian fired on this ship. The beam punched two small holes in this ship. It has to made from hard light._

 _Can you set up a hologram for me?_ The Lotus asked. Instead of answering, Aziz raised his hand and the guide of the Tenno sent wordless thank you. Both the one called Zharkov and the one called Barin recoiled as a small blue image appeared over Aziz's palm. The Lotus was frowning.

"Is Miss Ardan all right?" The Lotus asked through the hologram.

"Who are you?" Barin demanded, aiming at Aziz who ignored the weapon to focus on the fight that was still going on between Gordon and Ming. They seemed evenly matched. Every time the blonde haired man seemed to gain the upper hand, the robed one slammed him with some kind of energy, Every time the robed one started to come out on top and started to gloat, the blonde haired man sucker punched him.

"I am called Lotus." The Lotus said quietly. "Dr Zharkov, is Miss Ardan all right? Do you require medical assistance?"

"Our energies are not compatible." Zharkov said flatly. "We are not from this place, this time. This reality." The Lotus shook her head. Barin tensed, but no one paid him any mind. "She is hurt, the disintegrator beam bit deep, but she should live if we can get her back to our ship quickly."

 _Dis-integrator?_ Aziz decided he really didn't want to know.

"How did you come to this place?" The Lotus asked, concern rising. "We have had other incursions and we need to know how they came to be to stop them."

"See, Barin?" Zharkov muttered. "Talking works sometimes."

"Not against Ming." Brain retorted, but that as obviously an old and well fought over argument.

"You have to _use_ brains in order to talk and he prefers to _speak_ rather than _think_." Zharkov agreed and nodded tot he Lotus. "We scanned an odd source of energy. Ming detected it too and sent a fleet to take it. We argued the point, but then Flash's ship was attacked by Ming's shock troops and they captured Dale before we could beat them off. We came after her when he fled with her. He and his fleet ran into an odd portal. We chased them in."

"And you wound up here." The Lotus said softly. "That…" She sighed. "That is not supposed to be possible, but nothing that has happened recently was supposed to be possible. Now that you have Miss Ardan, you will go?"

'We can return through the portal that led Ming here. He will likely pursue when Flash leaves. He is a bit single minded about that." Zharkov eyed the battle on the dais. "Barin is right. We better go. Vulkan!" He raised his voice. "Time to go! If you _would_ , please!"

" _Glad to!_ " A loud voice called form overhead and Aziz stared as winged man literally crashed onto the dais. But his landing -if you could call it that- was obviously planned. He slammed Ming with a large mace and grabbed Gordon before flapping his wings and flying up into the air as Ming cursed.

Zharkov and Barin wasted no time on words. Barin scooped Ardan up and ran with her. Zharkov followed with a smile and nod to Aziz and the Lotus. Then he was gone too and the soldiers who had come with them were falling back as well, those who were still standing as more of Ming's troops flooded the area.

 _Get to your Archwing. I doubt their exit will be peaceful._ The Lotus warned. Aziz needed no further urging. He ran to where the mechanical wings hovered in mid-air. When he jumped up, they slid into place as if he had never left. Whatever field had held them was gone.

Some instinct warned him and Aziz dodged to the side as bolts of energy came form the newly come soldiers and from Ming. He darted here and there, not bothering to cloak since it had been defeated so easily.

"You will not escape!" The would be Emperor declared, his ring flashing as he threw power at the impossibly quick Tenno. " _None_ of Gordon's allies will survive! I _will_ have my revenge."

"Still a fool, Ming." The voice of Gordon taunted. Then it turned serious. Where was it coming from? Aziz could detect no transmissions. "Whoever you are, thank you for saving Dale and you might want to brace yourself or whatever you do."

That was the only warning Aziz had before a tremendous explosion sounded. Most of the room that had been there was destroyed by whatever had detonated. Aziz saw Ming protected by some kind of force field, but all of his troops in the room were washed away by the blast. The remaining atmosphere blew out and Ming snarled at Aziz where he hung.

" _YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!_ " Despite the lack of atmosphere, Ming's words came through clearly. That didn't make any sense, but then again, _none_ of this did, so Aziz just rolled with it.

 _Your pickup is there._ A waypoint appeared on Aziz's HUD and he smiled as he Blinked away from the doomed ship. He glanced back and shook his head slightly as he saw it break into two pieces. The Fomorian in the distance fired again and the beam did little to the ship, far less than whatever had hit it before.

Itzal Archwings were very fast. In less than a minute, he was at the coordinates and was not surprised when a Liset landing craft appeared nearby. He slid out of the Archwing and it was pulled into the ship. He spun and let the ship pull him to the airlock. But what greeted him inside…

He froze as the Frost Prime warframe nodded to him. He knew who this was. _Every_ Tenno knew who Cyberlancer Olim was.

"I didn't know you were in the area, Cyberlancer." Aziz said with a nod. He knew Olim's reputation about dealing with people who tire dot be too formal. It wasn't generally pretty. He didn't hurt them, just made it _very_ embarrassing.

"I wasn't." Olim replied with a nod of his own. "But this was odd, and I have the best sensors available. We got some decent readings on that whatever-the-hell-it-was."

"That was the flagship of Ming the Merciless, arch villain of the Flash Gordon series of comics. That was also Flash Gordon and his companions." The Lotus appeared in a holo nearby. "Again, hard light holograms, but they knew they were."

"A _comic_?" Aziz asked, incredulous.

"A very popular one." The Lotus agreed. "All of the manifestations have been of fictional characters from ancient entertainment media and all were very popular in their time. This doesn't make any sense to me, Cyberlancer. The Library was created by a non-violent Tenno as a means of storing knowledge. This… This was violent. Aziz could have been killed. Several Grineer ships were destroyed and many Grineer killed. Many of the hard light beings, artificial as they were, were killed. Anatoly would not have done this according to every record. We need to find out what is going on. We need you at the colony."

"I am on my way." Olim looked at Aziz who shrugged.

"Nowhere else to go." The Hydroid clad Tenno said with a snort. "At least around you, I won't be bored."

" _That_ I can guarantee." Olim snorted in matching humor. "But we may have a problem. I tracked the energy discharge that made the portal thing or whatever the hell it was that those ships came out of and went back into. The energy came from the colony."

"Then it _has_ to be related to the Library somehow." The Lotus sounded sad now. "Ah damn. Iriana is so much better. If Anatoly _is_ playing with us… She won't take it well."

"Until we know more, any decision we make will be a shot in the dark." Olim said quietly as his ship powered up. As with all Tenno assault ships, there was no sense of movement even though Aziz knew the ship was moving far faster than physics should have allowed it to. Orokin and Tenno tech had always allowed such craft to sidestep most laws of reality nicely.

"Can I help?" Aziz asked. "This is weird. _Way_ weird, even for someone like me."

"I don't know." Olim stiffened and Aziz did as well. "Oh dear."

"What?" The Lotus and Aziz asked at the same time. Aziz bit back the snide comment he would have made as Olim started working controls.

"The Grineer must have detected the same energy pattern I did, although I have no idea how." The Cyberlancer was working feverishly now. "Lotus! You need to warn the colony! The Fomorian just altered course and is pushing its speed to their max! They are on course to intercept the colony!"

Aziz felt his guts clench as the Lotus' holo vanished.

"Colony?" The Hydroid clad Tenno asked tightly.

"A Tenno colony." Olim said as he worked."Noncombatants. Hidden in an asteroid. Hidden from _everything_. But the Grineer are on a _direct course_. They know where it is. Even if we beat this Fomorian, they will be sending more. Lots more."

"If they get the ship into range, that colony is dust." Aziz said weakly. "How many civilians?" Olim just looked at him and Aziz had his answer.

Too many to evacuate.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ignorance**

Jill woke up, sure that something was terribly wrong. She tried to get up and could not. A hand was instantly on her forehead, pushing her back down. She was too weak to fight it. Too weak to even open her eyes.

"No." The soft voice was familiar. Not any Tenno that Jill knew, but someone kind who she recognized somehow. "Do not move, Tenno Jill. You are very badly hurt still. You nearly perished." The other gave a tiny sob. "You should not be awake." It was a female voice. Very young, younger even than Jesse and Janna. The feel was Tenno, but no one that Jill knew. So why was she so familiar? "Back to sleep with you."

 _Who?_ Jill tried to ask, but soothing energy swept over her and she fell back asleep, her question unvoiced.

* * *

Outside the secure psyche facility

"The Library did not do that. It did not send characters from the Flash Gordon comic to fight the Grineer."

Aziz wasn't sure about this at _all_. The voice from the Cepahlon thing was calm and unhurried even as all of the other Tenno in the area tensed further. They stood in the area just outside the facility, now devoid of guards and automated weapons. All the guards were busy working to help people get ready to evacuate if the Tenno strike teams being sent against the Fomorian failed. Even if they succeeded in stopping that Fomorian, the Grineer knew that something was here now. They would come and in increasing numbers. It was what they _did_. This colony was doomed.

"Be that as it may." Olim stood to one side, his clanmates around him as he scanned the area and the blue diamond thing with his code. Tiana stood with Ric in his Vauban, Rica in her Banshee and Ming in his Chroma, all four warframes warding both Olim and Iriana whose face was ashen as she stared from the Cephalon to Olim and back. "There was energy that traveled from here to where the battle took place. I traced it and apparently so did the Grineer. Therefore, logically, this facility and the Library _were_ involved somehow."

"I cannot say." The Cephalon said weakly and Olim shook his head.

"Right. Something or some _one_ is blocking you from speaking that. The question is who and why." He paused. "And _how_. The only access point you have is sealed behind codes that none of us possess."

"Eliza does." Iriana said and growled at the Hydroid warframe who stood by her when he made a quizzical noise. "Hush, Aziz. There are secrets you do not get to blab."

"I do not _blab_." The Hydroid clad Tenno protested mildly. _Everyone_ glared at him and he winced. "Okay. Okay. Yeah. My brain to mouth filter still needs work."

" _Who_ was it who told everyone who Swan was before the Lotus said it was okay to do so?" Iriana said with a growl worthy of a Drakh. " _Who_ nearly started a war between Tenno and New Loka?"

Aziz winced. He had been so excited, he had told many about the hybrid girl who felt like a Tenno before the repercussions could be minimized and it had nearly come to blows, Tenno against their allies. Not to mention, he had taken it upon himself to unilaterally help Peter and his crew without _any_ kind of oversight. He hadn't even bothered to ask the Lotus about it until after he was ensconced in the middle of the ship and nearly impossible to get to. _Then_ he had been angered almost beyond belief when New Loka commandos had assaulted the ship and stolen Swan. He hadn't been anywhere _close_ to discrete.

"Point." Aziz said with another wince. For once, he was totally serious. "She was a good kid, Healer. Yes, I was indiscreet, so… Should I leave?" He asked the three Elders who stood nearby in hologram from. Raven, Mavri and Tims all looked blank.

"He might be useful." Olim said into the sudden silence. "Hydroid warframes can go places others of us cannot."

" _If_ he can keep his big mouth _shut_." Iriana said savagely.

"Healer." Aziz said quietly. "I meant no harm. I was just so angry. She was a good kid. She didn't deserve that."

"No, she didn't." Elder Raven said quietly. "Will you abide by whatever restrictions the Elders or this clan come up with?" She asked Aziz who nodded. She looked at the other Elders and they shared a nod. "You may stay," Aziz nodded and did not speak. "Cyberlancer?"

"The systems are all closed." The Frost Prime clad techno-wizard said with a frown in his voice. "I can study them from here, but I cannot access them without causing damage. Something I am loathe to do unless we have no choice. These systems are _beautiful_."

"Thank you, Cyberlancer." The Cephalon said calmly. "Eliza is about to finish her session. Her rhythms are much calmer. Cathi Gata is also about to exit. Shall I direct them here?"

"Is it safe to enter the facility?" Tims asked. "We will need this hallway to move people and material soon."

"It should be safe." The Cephalon sounded unsure. "But if someone else is in control of my systems, then I cannot guarantee safety. If someone is using the Library's system to send hostile forms out, then I have caused harm."

"You did not." Iriana said sternly. "And no _backtalk_ , Anatoly!"

More than one of the Tenno in the area winced as Iriana's ire hit the Cephalon. She was stressed again. The winces changed to something else as the Cephalon spoke again, but this time in a robotic voice that was oddly mocking.

"By your command."

Everyone was fighting laughter as Iriana stared at the Cephalon, her cheeks turning red. Then _she_ started to laugh and everyone relaxed.

"Bad." Iriana snorted out between laughs. " _Bad_ Cephalon!"

"You take too much on yourself, Healer." The remnants of the Tenno that resided in the machine said gently. "Humor has its place as you well know. You are not responsible for everyone, Healer." Its tone was gentle, but also firm. "If the Library systems did send out these holograms and all evidence says that they did, then the Library does bear responsibility for what has happened."

"I..." Iriana bowed her head, mirth fading. "Yes. I know. But I don't want that." She said weakly. "This is marvelous, what you do. So many could use your help."

"And so much has been forgotten." Ric spoke up from where he stood with the others of his clan. Ming laid a hand on Ric's arm and the Vauban nodded to his clanmate. "I remember more, but so much has been lost. So much information, even if it is only entertainment, the file systems are immense."

"Indeed." Eliza's voice was almost happy as she and Cathi Gata strode out of the facility into the group, making a beeline for Iriana. Iriana jerked as Eliza came right up to her and gave her a hug. "I promised some friends I would do that." The human said with a twinkle in her eye as Iriana stared at her. Eliza retreated a step and nodded to the others. "Saun and Colin are still reading, they should be done in an hour or so. We need to access the control area." Her eyes lit on Aziz for a moment before traveling to the Elders. "I don't think the control room will hold everyone here."

"It is fairly small." The Cephalon agreed. "Perhaps four would fit."

"I am going." Iriana said in atone that brooked no argument. "Eliza needs to go. Olim needs to go. Who else?" She looked at Ric who shook his head.

"Everything I have seen is working as it should. No alarms or alerts anywhere." The technologist of the clan said with a firm nod. "Not 100% sure, but it is highly doubtful that any damage would be undetectable, even in the control area. Tiana, they need us to fight the Fomorian."

"Agreed, but Iriana is vulnerable here." The warlord said with a frown in her tone. Iriana scowled, but did not speak. They had done that argument many times. There were _a lot_ of Tenno who wanted revenge on Stalker and considering Iriana's history with him? She was a valid target to them. Her clan disagreed, violently on occasion. "Aeron? Will? Alicia?"

"All three have chosen to start another session, Warlord Tiana." The Cephalon sounded worried now. "They can be removed, but only with safety from the control area. I am programmed not to interrupt reading sessions unless death is imminent. As of now, it is not. The Fomorian ship will not arrive for some time."

"Even at their maximum speed, it will take them at least two days to get here." Olim reassured everyone. "We have harrying forces out and about to keep other Grineer away. Who knows. Maybe if we have access, we can use the Library systems to fight the Grineer."

"I would really rather not." The Cephalon said weakly.

All of the Tenno exchanged glances, but it was Aziz who found his tongue first.

"No one will force you to serve." Aziz said quietly. "We are not Grineer or Corpus, to enslave each other. We are not Orokin." He did not miss several people glancing at Eliza who did not react. The Hydroid did not comment on that. "We are Tenno. We serve."

"We are Tenno." Most of the others replied formally. Eliza and the Cephalon did not speak.

"I will ward the Healer." Aziz said quietly. Everyone stared at him and then at Iriana who flushed again.

"No offense, meant, brother… but..." Iriana said weakly. She broke off as he held up a hand.

"None taken." Aziz replied. "Your clan have better equipment than I do. They will fare better against the Fomorian than I would. I would fight, it is what I do. However, it is far more likely that I would be a hindrance rather than a help." He nodded to Tiana who stare at him. "I will ward the Healer if you allow."

"Iriana?" Tiana asked softly. "Eliza?"

Aziz jerked. Why was she asking a _human_? He kept his tongue still through sheer force of will as the human in question eyed him.

"One other to guard the door." Eliza said quietly. "Cathi?" Her voice turned concerned, but she froze as every Tenno in the area hissed at her. That wasn't the Tenno's name!

" _She_ can call me that." Cathi Gata said firmly. " _No one else_." Everyone relaxed as the Valkyr warframe shook her head. "They need me to fly, Eliza. I am one of the clan's best at flying."

" _One of?_ " Tiana asked, incredulous. "Only _Li_ can outfly you. She keeps demanding the Caretakers take her oath and they keep refusing."

Aziz stared as every member of the clan winced as one. Apparently, this Li was fairly outspoken. Eliza was smiling indulgently. What was her relationship to Cathi Gata? Aziz burned with curiosity, but he knew better than to ask.

"Warlord." Cathi Cata shook her head. "I need to fly, Eliza." She turned to Aziz. "You. If _any_ harm comes to Iriana _or_ Eliza, or _any_ secrets get spilled, I will personally beat you to death with your own thumbs." Cold, clinical, matter of fact. Considering how _small_ thumbs were and how _long_ that might take, Aziz kept his mouth firmly shut and simply nodded.

" _Cathi!_ " Eliza made a face but it was comical. "Ick!"

"Ming. You ward the door outside." Tiana said firmly. The huge Chroma warframe nodded and moved to stand beside them, unlimbering his Orthos polearm and holding it at attention. "Olim, do what you have to. Everyone else, with me. We have a Fomorian to stop."

She took off at a run, her clan following her. The Elders looked at one another and then they vanished without another word. Human and three Tenno looked at each other and then as one, they started inside. The Cephalon floated along behind them.

"Anything you see or hear in here may very well be suspect." Eliza said flatly. "If someone else is in control… Anatoly, can you keep us safe as we move to the the control room?"

"Under normal circumstances, that would be true." The Cephalon replied. Aziz jerked as he eyed the human again and saw something he hadn't before. She was wearing something on her head and it was starting to glow! A crown and not just _any_ crown!

Eliza noted his scrutiny and nodded but Iriana spoke first.

"You didn't _see_ anything." The healer said to the Hydroid clad Tenno. "You didn't _hear_ anything and by the ancestors, you _do not_ say _anything_!"

"If the Grineer _or_ Corpus see that.." Aziz said weakly as he stared at the Crown of Orokin, the symbol of the monarchy that had ruled Orokin before the Collapse. "All _hell_ will break loose."

"Yeah." Eliza said with a sigh and then everything stopped as Aziz dropped to one knee and folded his arms across his chest. "Tenno? What?"

"This will not be spoken by me. Sword and Soul, Blood and Bone, may my own blade end me if I transgress." Aziz said formally. Everyone stare at him and he bowed his head. "So swears Aziz Ibn Malik Ibn Abrahiam Ibn Ali." He bowed his head once in a jerk and then rose in a sinuous movement. Eliza stared at him and then her eyes went huge.

"I know that name." Eliza said softly. "He served Ricard." Aziz nodded to her. "But he _fell_ in battle against a _squadron_ of smugglers. The entire asteroid was destroyed. He _died!_ "

"Very nearly. Their trap claimed his squire and his human ally." The normally humorous Hydroid's tone was clipped now. "But not quite him. He made it into cryo before environmental systems failed utterly. What do I call you?"

"Here, my name is Eliza." What had to be the Empress of Orokin nodded to the Hydroid as Olim and Iriana both stared at him. "You know what Ricard was. This is Aziz. One of his champions."

" _What?_ " Iriana demanded.

"I give apology, Healer. I meant no dishonestly." The Hydroid said with a nod. "When I woke, the world I knew was gone. All of my friends, all of my ways. Gone. Even the memory of the Order was a travesty of what it had been when I served. I could be someone new."

"Not all." Eliza said quietly. Aziz stared at her. "Not here, not now. But you are not alone, Sir Knight."

"This...complicates things and simplifies them." Olim said after a moment. "He will not break that oath, Healer."

"I… I know." Iriana said weakly. "I remember."

"Welcome to the Library, Sir Knight." The Cephalon said formally and Aziz sighed.

"I enjoyed playing the nutty pirate but that is not really who I am." The Hyrdoid said sadly. "It was fun though." He waved and Eliza nodded. She started off, the others following.

"Why stop?" Olim asked mildly. Aziz looked at him and the Cyberlancer chuckled. "We could use more humor in this crazy sad world of ours."

"You put him and Ric together in the _same room_ at the _same time_ and the universe _itself_ may tremble." Eliza said with a grin. "Or so the records say."

"Ric?" Aziz asked and then froze as he remembered who he had seen. "No..." He breathed. "That _wasn't_..."

"It was." Eliza said sadly. "He doesn't remember. His memory was damaged. Permanently."

"But he lives?" Aziz said weakly. Everyone else nodded. "I… See. So many secrets." He said to Olim. "They wear on you. I know that feeling." He shook his head. "Humor can be a very good outlet for stress but it is a lot of work to get it right. Bad humor takes no effort. Good humor takes quite a bit."

All four of them came to a stop as a large brown thing came around a corner to a sudden stop. The thing looked kind of like a drahk, but not quite. It wore a collar of some kind, but before any of them could speak, it jerked, gave an all too human cry and dashed back around the corner. Olim started forward, but Aziz shook his head.

"He will lead you into a trap." Aziz said quietly. "That is what Scooby Doo _did_ even if they never worked as planned." Everyone stared at him and he shrugged. "Hey, I had hobbies."

"I don't want to _know_." Iriana complained.

"Not far to the control room. Anatoly?" Eliza asked.

"Less than thirty meters by corridor." The Cephalon replied instantly.

"Not far at all." Eliza said after a moment. "But if that was intended to trap us..." She trailed off. "Olim?"

"I can sense activity all around us." The Cyberlancer had a frown in his tone as his code swept around the area and reported to him. "In every corridor. We are blocked."

"And even if the Library is not designed for violence, we have seen how dangerous the holograms can be." Eliza said quietly. "Hmmm..." Aziz looked at her as if in thought and she frowned. "Yes?"

"Do you trust me, Empress?" Aziz asked quietly.

"Within limits. Why?" Eliza asked, her tone considering.

"I have seen drains along the walls." Aziz nodded to one that was visible at the floor nearby. "I assume the control room has such as well."

"It does." Eliza said slowly. "They are connected. I looked over the schematics before coming. But they have defenses and I cannot go with you that way or tell you the codes."

"You can come with me." Aziz said softly. "But it won't be pleasant."

"You cannot digitize me while I wear this thing. Too much power for even a warframe to hold." Eliza said with a growl as she tapped the crown on her head. Aziz shook his head and then waved at the drain. She blanched. "You cannot be _serious_!"

"If you stay here, you will be in danger." Aziz said quietly. "If you try to retreat or go around, likewise. I must protect you. I can get you in there, but it will not be fun for you."

"What are you _saying_?" Iriana demanded.

"Iriana..." Eliza stared at the healer and then nodded slowly. "Olim, protect the healer. Aziz, _do it_ before I change my _mind_!"

He reached out and took the Empress in his arms. Iriana screamed as he activated his Undertow. Eliza was pulled in and he slid his water form into the drain. It was hard, incredibly hard as he moved something that wasn't supposed to move, but he had always liked playing pranks on people. Being made of water allowed him to get into and out of places he shouldn't have been able to. That was what had saved his life on that long ago asteroid, the ability to move through rubble.

He made it into a smaller chamber and reformed his normal self. Eliza was shuddering in his arms, icy cold from the touch of his Undertow and he rubbed her arms to stimulate circulation.

"Don't _ever_ do that again!" Eliza commanded through chattering teeth. "I didn't think Hydroids could move in Undertow."

"Most can't." Aziz said with a grin. "I am not most."

"Obviously. But… what happened to the defenses?" Eliza stared around and then she blanched. Aziz followed her gaze and he saw what had shocked her. A _very_ young Tenno girl sat in the sole chair in the room. Her garment barely covered her for modesty purposes and she was _filthy_! Her face held terror.

" _Please don't hurt me!_ "


	16. Chapter 16

**Traps**

For just a moment, both Aziz and Eliza stood there, staring at the small girl in the chair who was now starting to cry. She was _maybe_ seven years old and she looked awful. When was the last time she had bathed? Eliza found her tongue first.

"Who are you?" Eliza started for the chair, only to pause as Aziz stepped in front of her. "Aziz..."

"We don't know who she is or why she is here." Aziz reminded her. "We only know that someone has been blocking the Library's ability to respond to questions and sending out hard light holograms." He looked at the girl who wilted. "Who are you?" He repeated the Empress' question.

"My name is Mary." The girl said through her sobs." I didn't mean to do it! I swear I didn't!"

"Well, Mary." Eliza nodded slowly. "My name is Eliza and this is Aziz. We are not here to hurt anyone. We just want to find out what is going on. Why are you in that chair?"

" _I can't get out of it!_ " Mary screamed and both of the others stared at her as she started to babble. "They promised… It was… I was… They were nice, but… It was cold… I was… I ran and..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Aziz kept his voice calm as he held up both hands. "Slow down, girl. Slow breaths, deep breaths. Have you started training? If so, try a basic meditation." Mary stared at him and then slowly nodded, her face easing as she took in huge lungfuls of air and relaxed a little. She was still crying. "Don't hyperventilate. _Slow_ breaths."

"I am scared." Mary said weakly as she breathed. "It has been… I don't know how long I have been in here."

"We are not going to hurt you." Eliza promised. "We need to figure this out. You are stuck in the chair?"

"I sat down." Mary said weakly. "I was tired. I sat. And I couldn't _get up! Help!_ " She begged.

"Oh dear." Eliza looked at Aziz who nodded as she saw the telltale signs of energy flowing around the chair. She was stuck in it and from how she looked? She had been for a while. "Mary? Are you in control of the holograms that were blocking us in the corridor?"

"I thought you were coming to hurt me with two armed warframes." Mary said in a tiny voice.

"Mary,. I don't know how to get you out of that." Eliza said softly. "The codes I have do not include security fields for this room. I need to get the others in here. They are Cyberlancer Olim and Healer Iriana. Have you heard of them? If they can help, they will." Mary's eyes were huge now and she nodded.

"I… No one was supposed to be hurt." Mary said weakly. "They promised no Tenno would be hurt. But it happened. Jill nearly died and it was my fault and..."

"Easy, Mary." Eliza soothed the distraught girl with words alone since she could not touch. "Let them in and they can help. We want to help."

"I..." Mary slumped in her chair. The door behind Eliza clicked and then hissed open.

"Ah… Eliza? Aziz?" Olim asked as he stared in the door. "The holograms vanished. What just… oh dear." He said as he saw Mary sitting and crying. "Oh dear."

"What the-?" Iriana strode into view and froze on seeing the group. " _Mary?_ "

" _HEALER! HELP!_ " Mary screamed.

Iriana started to run forward, only to have Olim grab her arm. She hissed at him, but he did not release her.

'You know her?" Eliza asked as she scrutinized the systems arrayed inside the small control room.

"She was hurt during the mess with Master Richard, Rhino. She nearly died." Iriana said sadly. "I saw her a few times for routine checkups. Mary? What _happened_? Why are you _here_?" Then she stilled. "Oh no. No. Not _them_!"

"They said it would help, Healer!" Mary was bawling now and Iriana tried to jerk out of Olim's grip. It didn't work.

"Olim! Let go!" The Healer demanded. He ignored her, his code swirling around the room. "Olim, she is hurt. She needs help!"

"She is _trapped_ in the chair, Healer." Olim said firmly. "If you touch her, _you_ will be too and I bet that won't do good things for _either_ of you. Stay here and I will try to release her." His code flared as he started scanning the chair and its surroundings.

"I..." Iriana's shoulders fell and she nodded. "Mary, we are going to try and help you. Okay?" She pitched her voice to comfort and Mary relaxed a little. "What happened? You were doing well. You had recovered. Why are you here?"

"I had a really bad nightmare." Mary said weakly. "I woke up screaming and crying and I had bitten myself. Dad freaked. Mom was upset. Everyone was."

"Oh Mary…." Iriana was crying softly now. "No one told me."

"You are busy." Mary said weakly. "You have to keep Warriors going and I am just a little girl."

"You are _not_ just a little girl! You are Tenno and you were _hurt_." Iriana snapped. "Who told you that?" Then she hissed. "Wait… You… No. They _didn't_!"

"Mom took me to someone. They were nice but..." Mary was crying again. "They gave me something and I woke up in a little room. _There was no one there!_ " She screamed the last.

"Those… Those _animals_..." Iriana swallowed hard as she stared at Mary. The girl wore a confinement bodysuit that was as filthy as she was. Said suits were designed to keep the wearer from hurting themselves while at the same time allowing for access to the body in case of medical needs. She stared around the room and then she nodded. Eliza and Aziz looked at her and she pointed to a vent that was askew nearby. "You got loose. _Good girl!_ " The sharp compliment startled Mary and the girl hiccuped for a moment, staring at the healer. "That wasn't right, what they did. Idiots."

"I don't know what happened." Mary said weakly. "I just had to get out. I managed to pry a vent off and crawled. But this isn't home. The tunnels are different. I don't know where I am. I came in here. It was the only place I could reach! And now I am _stuck_!" She was crying again. "Healer! _Please!_ "

" _Olim._ " Iriana gritted his name out.

"Almost got it, healer." Olim, by contrast, was ice cold. "She made a right mess of the controls." Mary sobbed and he shook his head. "Not your fault, girl. You didn't know what you were doing, did you? You accessed the neural feeds."

"I sleep a lot." Mary said weakly. "My dreams are strange." She gave a tiny cry as blue code flared around her and the energy that held her in place vanished. She slid out of the chair and would have hit the floor, except Aziz caught her. She was crying as he held her, crooning softly to her as the Healer stepped close.

"See what you can do for her." Eliza said softly as she sat in the chair. Mary gave another tiny cry, but Eliza smiled at her. "I have the codes, Mary. It won't trap me." She squirmed a bit. "She will need lots of help. Girl hasn't moved for quite a while. This chair is very damp. So much for such fabrics being water repellent."

Mary blushed but no one was blaming her. Not for that.

"Oh Mary." Iriana's hands were gentle as they checked the girl over. Then she started scanning. "I didn't know. No one told me." She shook her head. "You are dehydrated but not as badly as I feared. Was there water here?"

"Yeah." Mary snuggled closer to Aziz and he just stood there holding her, his mind whirling. This wasn't what he had expected. Not at all. Someone had locked this girl up? For having a nightmare? "A straw thing came up when I needed water. But there was no food."

"Something doesn't add up." Aziz said slowly. "If she was locked up in one of the cells here, then from what you described there is no way she could have gotten loose, is there?"

"She wasn't in one of the cells _here_." Iriana gritted the words out. Aziz stared at her and she shook her head. "The secure psyche unit's idea of 'rehabilitation' has always been to lock people up and forget about them. They either get better on their own or they are not a problem anymore."

"That is evil." Aziz held the girl as Mary cried quietly. "She is just a kid."

"Yeah." Iriana did something and Mary relaxed in Aziz's arm. "Did that help, Mary?"

"It did." Mary said weakly. "Healer… I can feel… I am falling _asleep_. No. I don't want to _dream_. I don't. Please! I don't want to hurt anyone again. I didn't mean to." She started to cry again and between sobs fell asleep in Aziz's arm as the sedative Iriana had given her worked its magic.

"Not your fault, kiddo." A new voice sounded and everyone stared as a form entered the room. It was humanoid shaped but it wasn't human. It had long ears and a fluffy white tail on its rear end. Aziz jerked as he recognized it. His suspicions were confirmed when it pulled an orange thing with a green end out of somewhere and started nibbling on it. "What's up, Doc?"

"Bugs." Aziz said flatly and the form nodded to him. " _You_ didn't do this to her. Even _you_ had _some_ scruples."

"When Daffy is not involved, yeah." The human sized bunny said with another nod. "Girl is a mess. She didn't mean to do this. Any of this."

"She was dreaming when she was connected to the neural feeds." Iriana said weakly. The rabbit nodded to her. "Oh crap."

"Healer. Don't." Aziz warned. "Bugs was fairly tame for the time period, but he was also well known for hurting people."

"Only those who deserve it, bub." The bunny pointed the nibbled end of his strange orange thing at the Hydroid. "Do you?"

"Whether I say yes or no, you will make up your own mind. You always did." Aziz said mildly. "I am no enemy of yours. I am certainly not a Wabbit hunter." He said that in an odd accent and everyone stared at him. Then the rabbit snickered.

"You will do." The rabbit said with a sigh as he looked at Mary. "Poor kid was connected every time she fell asleep in the chair. The Library couldn't release her. It tried to find a way too soothe her, but couldn't. It tried almost every children's tale in its databanks, but it couldn't get through to her. The feeds were scrambled."

"And it couldn't _speak_ about who was controlling it..." Iriana said in sudden comprehension. "Because she is a _kid_." The rabbit inclined its head to her.

"Even Orokin had rules against exploiting minors. They were not always followed as written but they _did_ have them." Eliza said quietly where she sat. The rabbit looked at her and she shook her head. "Nope. I am not hunting either. I am not that dumb."

"Pity." The rabbit shook its head. "I am getting bored."

"Is that so?" Aziz asked. "I wonder if that abominable snowman is anywhere in that database?" The rabbit stared at him in horror and Aziz shook his head. "The one who wanted to call you George?"

"You wouldn't." The bunny said slowly.

"Try me." Aziz said flatly as he looked down at the sleeping girl. "I am not feeling very nice right now." The rabbit, looked at him, looked at Mary and then took another bite of its orange thing.

"I can understand that." The rabbit said quietly. "We tried to help her."

"I can." Iriana made a motion and Aziz eased the girl into the healer's arms. "It won't be quick but we have time. The Elders will hear about this. I bet those quacks didn't even tell the girl's parents when they 'lost' her."

"They didn't." The rabbit said in a flat voice. Iriana nodded, her ire up. "She tried to contact them, but she couldn't find their home. You Tenno hide like nobody's business."

"I'z had all I can standz..." Aziz said slowly. The rabbit stared at him. "I can't standz no more..."

"Uh..." The rabbit shook his head. "You are not him."

"No, I am not." Aziz agreed. "But this is going to infuriate _every single_ Tenno."

"The Library is non-violent." The rabbit said slowly. "Even those of us who were violent in whatever media we were in are constrained when not released by her dreams."

"Constrained like the _Roadrunner_ was?" Aziz asked snidely. The rabbit made a face and nodded.

"Point taken. He was an ass." The rabbit shrugged. "But so was Wiley. We are not supposed to fight. Harming Jill was never intended. Mary wanted to be free, to be a hero in her dreams, poor kid. Her subconscious picked the most powerful forces she could find and sent them out, but she had no control once they went out."

"That explains the villains. And her fear of discovery or being hurt explains Scooby Doo." Eliza said slowly. "I see."

"You are little old to be 'darn kids'..." The rabbit snickered at Iriana's expression, but he nodded when Aziz laughed. "He gets it."

"No one else likely will." Aziz shrugged when everyone looked at him. "Healer? How is Mary?"

"Malnourished and a bit dehydrated but alive." The Healer nodded slowly, relaxing. "As to her mental state… I will _kill_ those quacks! I will!"

Her eyes flashed with energy as her control faltered. Normally, she managed to hide her glowing eyes behind tight Tenno energy control, but when she got upset? People retreated if they were wise.

"I think you will need to stand in line behind her parents, doc." The rabbit said mildly. Iriana glared at him, but then nodded.

"And no matter our personal feelings, we need to keep it legal and aboveboard." Eliza said with a sigh as she sat up straight in the chair. "Wow, she was busy. Every time she slept for _how_ long?"

"We tried to keep her distracted, entertained while she was awake." The rabbit was sad now. "But she had to sleep or she would have gone mad and while she slept, we couldn't stop her."

"How many?" Aziz asked tightly.

"Dozens and… Oh no..." Eliza inhaled as she stared at something none of them could see. "No!"

" _JASMINA!_

* * *

Somewhere

Warrior Tenno did not die in bed. Every Tenno knew this. Even with centuries of experience and the best of weapons, Tenno could and did fall in battle.

But this… Not like this...

Jasmina threw her Glaive one final time at the robotic looking forms that strode towards her. The flying saw blade glanced off one of the five robots without even making a mark. She couldn't run, the bolt of energy that had seared her leg had seen to that.

 _FIRE HEART!_

Elenia was crying, but the other Caretaker had obeyed when Jasmina had ordered her to flee, to take the others of their small contingent and flee with the biomass that made up the mass mind. But in order to for them to do that, all of the Caretakers had known that one of them had to draw the strange enemies away. Mishka and Janas had been working the biomass containers with the Infested that served the mindmass. The humans had helped as they were capable. They had done it. They had all gotten clear. All except Jasmina.

 _Those are T-800s._ Dust's voice in the mind mass was weak, sick as Jasmina hobbled from cover to cover, trying with all of her might to avoid the bolts of energy that scored the rock walls around her. As had been shown, her warframe could not repel plasma fire of whatever kind had hit her. _Terminators. That is not possible!_

 _Any… weaknesses…?_ Jasmina asked weakly. Elenia had tried her magnetic abilities, but none of the enemies had shone any effects at all.

 _They should have been affected by Elenia's abilities!_ Dust was babbling as his mate faced death. No one was entirely sure if she would go to the database, to the mass mind or simply fade away when she perished. Not even Nikis. No one had wanted to find out. _They are robots! They should be vulnerable to magnetic fields!_

 _Where are they from?_ Jasmina asked as she threw another ball of fire, more to distract than to cause damage. _Does anyone know?_

 _They are from an ancient movie!_ Dust said weakly. _Not real. They cannot be real._

 _Feel real enough to me._ The distraction cost her. Jasmina screamed as a bolt of energy clipped her side and she fell to scrabble into what meager cover she could find. She put her back to a small rock and waited. It was all she could do. Blue and red bolts of energy were hitting the ground all around her as she drew her Embolist pistol. For all the good _that_ would do if her Glaive hadn't even dented the things. _Dust I…_

 _You are not alone, Fire Heart._ Dust was crying softly now too as Jasmina heard metal feet crunching towards her.

But then something even more utterly impossible sounded.

"GET _AWAY_ FROM HER, YOU _BITCHES_!"

That was _Empress_ _Eliza's_ voice! Jasmina stayed where she was. She was to tired to even move as the sounds of metal crunching into metal sounded from behind her. The sounds of weapons fire came and then more metal crunching. Then metal striking metal, but… There was no more weapon fire.

"Caretaker." The voice _was_ Eliza. That wasn't possible! She was on Avalon and could not leave. It was calm, but held worry. "Caretaker Jasmina, are you alive?"

Jasmina stared up as a shadow covered her. She was unprepared for the boxy yellow thing that appeared in front of her. It seemed like a framework built around a human sized person. Probably some kind of loader device from the arms it had. She stared back where she had come from and the robot things that had hunted and hurt her had been _mashed_.

"Caretaker! Stay with me!" That was Eliza's face in the cockpit of that thing. That was impossible, wasn't it? She couldn't summon the effort to speak as the arms swept underneath her and picked her up gently. "Stay with me!"

Jasmina felt darkness beckon, but then gold swept it away.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sanity  
**

Jasmian never lost consciousness, which was good. But she was utterly flummoxed by what had happened. The other Caretakers were just as mystified as she was laid out on a familiar surface. An Orokin medical diagnostic bed. The robot or whatever it was stepped back.

"Chirurgeon!" Eliza's voice called and the form of what had to be one of her medics appeared nearby, his face shocked. No one else in the solar system wore such ancient garb outside of Avalon. All of the other Caretakers were stunned by this sudden shift and none had any helpful words of advice. Not for this.

"Empress?" The human stared from the odd robot thing to Jasmina and his eyes went huge. "This is..."

"This is Caretaker Jasmina, yes and she is gravely injured!" The Empress snapped. "Tend her wounds. Now."

"Empress… Your orders on leaving were that Michelle be in charge." The other started scanning, but his tone was hesitant. "I am not sure..."

"Is she awake?" Eliza cut him off. The other shook his head. "Is _Jesse_? She has the authority, though she has never used it."

""She is. But as you say, she does not put herself forward." The medic said quietly. "I don't think..."

"Get her here." Eliza commanded. "And Draco. Jasmina will need the reassurance."

"Jesse?" Jasmina managed to croak, but Chirurgeon was at her side in an instant.

"Don't try to speak, Caretaker." The medic said quickly. "You are badly wounded. Another few minutes and your energy would have been unrecoverable. What happened?" He asked the robot as he worked.

"That is a very good question." Jesse's voice held concern mixed with awe as she came running into the room, a shadowed warframe at her heels. She skidded to a stop, staring at the robot and Jasmina. "Empress? Caretaker? What… What the- the hell?" She corrected herself in mid curse.

"Watch your mouth, Jesse." Eliza said in a tone that was long suffering. "You really need to work on deportment still."

"You ran off and left us here with barely a word." Jesse said with a touch of heat. "Michelle and I are doing what we can, but the people trust _you_ , not _us_. What happened?" She demanded icily and Jasmina had to admire her cold restraint.

 _She is growing up._ Elenia said softly in Jasmina's mind. _I like it._

 _You like most people, Mind of Light._ Dust's mind was cool, analytical. _This may or may not be good. We shall have to see._

"We discovered where the holograms were coming from. I am not sure of the ones sent after the Caretakers were sent because they _were_ Caretakers or because they work with Infested, but other holograms were sent after Infested." Eliza said with a sigh. "This form is also a hard light hologram. We found the control center for it."

"Who did this?" Jasmina demanded, trying to rise, but she couldn't. She was too weak. "They could have killed _everyone!_ " She was suddenly flattened to the table. "Let me _go!_ "

"Caretaker, calm down." The medic said quickly. "No one is holding you here, but you _have_ to remain still so I can heal your wounds."

"I can answer you, Caretaker Jasmina." Eliza said quietly. The Caretaker looked at her and the face in the robot was sick now. "But you won't like it."

"I swear vengeance on-" Jasmina started, only to freeze as a mechanical arm slammed the table beside her.

"A _severely traumatized seven year old girl_ did it, Caretaker Jasmina!" Eliza said with a snarl. " _Calm down._ "

A gasp swept through Jasmina's mind from the other Caretakers. A gasp mirrored by Jesse and Chirurgeon.

"What?" Jasmina asked in a small voice as the other Caretakers rushed to pour ice water on her rage.

"You know about the reactivation of the secure psyche unit?" Eliza asked. Jasmina nodded, a snarl escaping her control even with her friends helping. Then again, she _had_ seen the effect of that place first hand with both Serene and Dust. "They built the new one on top of Anatoly's Library."

"And?" Jasmina growled.

"And they never stopped their 'work'." Eliza said in a sick tone. From the sudden shock Jasmina felt from the other Caretakers that was matched by the sick look on Jesse's face, this was news to everyone. "Apparently, they were running something there on that colony. In secret."

"They wouldn't _dare!_ " Chirurgeon said into the utter silence that fell. "Nikis _himself_ said he would kill the bastards if he caught them doing it again."

"And _rightly so_." Eliza said with a groan. "Those fools messed up so many and dared to claim your mate as a 'success', Caretaker Jasmina. Mavri _physically_ slapped one of them for that comment. Even her own peers called that moronic."

Jasmina couldn't help it. She chortled at the idea of the ultra sophisticated and civilized Elder reduced to slapping someone. Then again, that was good cause. _She_ would have done far more than _slap_.

"Elenia said something about that. So this girl..." Jesse said slowly.

"According to her, and she has no reason to lie, she had a bad experience." Eliza sounded tired now. "She had very bad nightmares as result. They put her into their idea of humane lockup and she managed to get out."

"They put a _seven year old_ into one of those _cells_ and _forgot_ about her?" Jasmina felt rage building again, but this time, it was not directed at anyone in the room.

"They did, but she got _out_." Eliza smiled grimly from the thing she was in. Jasmina stared at her and then shared it. "She escaped the cell and fled through the ducts. I don't know if they traced her or not, but she managed, somehow, to crawl through the ducts into the control room for Anatoly's Library."

"And that is what has been sending out the holograms." Jesse said softly. Of course she was in the loop as a Cyberlancer. Eliza nodded again as Chirurgeon bent back to his work.

"When Mary sat down on the chair in the control room, the security field activated, trapping her in it." Eliza said in a soft voice. "She couldn't get _out_ of it. The Library could not free her due to security overrides and the fields the crews put up during the construction of the new facility kept the Library from calling for help." Everyone whose face was visible looked horrified now and she nodded. "She was stuck in that chair for over a _month_ , Jasmina. Do you _really_ want to kill her for _that_?"

 _Is she… sane?_ Dust asked. Jasmina repeated his horrified words and Eliza sighed.

"I don't know." Eliza admitted. "Iriana says she can be helped but I don't know. She is skin and bones. She had water, but no food. She should be dead, but I bet the Library cheated somehow, kept her nourished enough to survive if no more than that. But the holograms… She linked into the neural feeds while dreaming."

" _That_ is why we got so many odd things." Jesse said flatly. "A dreaming mind of a little girl with sanity issues? Ouch."

"Yeah. She is free now and as safe as we can make her. My next call as soon as Jasmina is healed is to Mavri and her parents." Eliza winced visibly. "I am fully expecting _them_ to react almost as badly as Caretaker Jasmina did."

"If not _worse_. They have cause." Jasmina felt a lot better now. She paused as memory surfaced. "Wait. _Mary_ from _Mavri's_ colony? The one who was involved with Rhino? _That_ Mary?"

"The same." Eliza looked sick and again and Jasmina shared. it.

"Those idiots locked her up? Rachel is going to flip right out." Jasmina said flatly. "Her people treated Mary for injuries that resulted from the malfunctioning nanites. Rhino liked that tyke. So did Kori." She said with a small sob. "The First didn't mean to hurt her, but they did. _That_ was her bad experience?"

"I think so." Eliza nodded as Chirurgeon stepped back. "Chirurgeon?"

"Try moving, Caretaker." The medic said and Jasmina raised her hand slowly. The field holding her had vanished during the conversation. She stared at her side and her leg. The wounds were gone. The biotech flesh was as it had always been. She sat up slowly, aware as Draco moved to shield Jesse from her.

"Jesse is in no danger from me." Jasmina said flatly. Then she turned to face the robot thing and shook her head. "You do good work. Thank you."

"This is barely a pittance of the debt I owe you and yours, Caretaker." Eliza said formally. "We need to return you to where you were. I am afraid the transport systems of the Library do not allow for unlimited transit. Pity."

"So the Library sent that hologram to help me." Jasmina rose and studied the thing Eliza was in. It looked odd. Boxy almost. Certainly not a war machine. "At your command?"

"For the moment but I cannot keep it up for much longer." Eliza heaved a sigh. "This is very weird. I am in the chair _and_ in this thing at the same time. Small wonder Mary was so distracted. I can get you back where you were, but then the power for this hologram will be drained and it will dis-incorporate."

"That sounds painful." Jasmina said slowly.

"The Library says 'No'." Eliza replied. "It says that is some kind of telepresence system intended for remote teaching. Kind of like what Henrietta is doing from the Citadel." She held out an arm of the robot thing and Jasmina took it in slow fingers.

"Do you want me to talk to Rachel?" Jasmina asked quietly as the robot started to glow golden. "You are likely to have your hands full with Mavri and the girl's parents."

"I shouldn't delegate this." Eliza mused. "But a cowardly part of me wishes I could delegate it _all_." Jesse snorted a laugh and then they were traveling.

"I will talk to her." Jasmina promised as the golden glow faded and the rock walls of what had almost been her tomb showed around them. The bots or whatever they had been were gone.

"Tell her to contact Elder Tims or the Lotus." Eliza said as the robot started to fade from view. "Our coms are blocked..." Then she was gone.

Jasmina sighed deeply, shook herself and then started for where she knew a transit point to the next refuge lay hidden.

 _Um... Jasmina..._ Elenia sounded subdued. _I um… When we fled… I… Er..._ Why was she stuttering? _I can talk to Rachel for you._

 _You can?_ Jasmina came to a sudden halt as Elenia gulped. _What did you do?_

 _She didn't_ **mind!** Elenia said weakly. _She is… um… standing right here._ _She says she can transport you here. Um… if you want._ _We came here._

 _You, Mishka and Janas took the mind mass and the entire community to the_ **Citadel** _?_ Jasmina demanded.

 _She said we could come back._ Elenia said weakly. _It was an emergency. She agrees it was. We were welcome to come back, she said._

 _A_ **couple** _of us!_ Jasmina nearly exploded. _Not the whole_ **group** _! Elenia, have you_ _gone mad_ _?_

She gasped a golden portal swept her up and before she could blink twice, she was standing on another portal platform. A familiar one. Rachel stood beside Elenia whose posture was timid. Rachel was shaking her head.

"You do realize there are only eight of us left, right, Jasmina?" Rachel said quietly as Jasmina glared at Elenia. "Ten now with Timothy here serving penance and Isha here for healing. Ona's group have their own quarters. An entire wing to themselves. You _really_ think we are short of space?" She was somewhere between humor and incredulity.

"No. But..." Jasmina shook her head. "We put you and your neutrality in a tough spot."

"We are not neutral, Jasmina." Rachel said quietly. "Not now. Not ever. Isha asked me something and I… I was surprised, but pleased when she did. It hadn't occurred to me and it _should_ have." She held out her hand. "I accepted her. I will accept all of you if you wish. Sister to sister… Yours in life and death."

Jasmina recoiled back into a wall. That was the _clan oath_. Rachel was offering Jasmina and by extension _all_ of the Caretakers a place in the ranks of the _**First**_!

"Rachel, I can't." Jasmina said weakly. "I… The oath… I..."

"It won't be easy for any of us, but Tenno detest easy." Rachel held her hand out. "This gives you a place to stay and allies who will not forsake you."

"But… The focus of the First is to stop outbreaks!" Jasmina said weakly. "I… _We_ cannot just kill Infested. We have to try and keep the massmind stable."

"Show me _anyone_ else in the system who is more devoted to protecting people from the Virus than you." Rachel dropped her hand. "Show me _anywhere_ else in the system where you would be safer than here. You don't need to choose now. But I would like an answer eventually, yes or no."

"I'll… get back to you on that." Jasmina said weakly. "Did Elenia tell you..." She trailed off as Elenia shook her head. "Wimp."

"She said that you were saved by Eliza of all people and _she_ had found a way to stop the holograms." Rachel said with a frown in her tone. "There is more?"

"Yeah." Jasmina braced herself and started to explain. Good thing she prepared herself.

Rachel was the leader of the First. Her roar of rage might have scared a _supernova._

* * *

The Library

Eliza sat up and rubbed her temples as she looked around the room. Nothing had much changed since she had taken control of the hologram system to send a special hologram to help Jasmina out of her tough spot. Aziz and Olim stood by the door, Iriana sat on the floor with Mary cradled in her lap.

"She did this for a _month_?" The Empress said, eyeing Mary's sleeping form. The girl was emaciated, so thin as to be nearly see through. "She will need a _lot_ of help."

"Yeah." Iriana's face was sad as she rocked the slumbering waif. "She is no danger at the moment, but we need to get her to a full care center sooner rather than later. There _will_ be complications from this ordeal. There will be."

"And she needs a bath." Eliza smiled at the Healer's expression. The Empress shrugged. "She will feel better clean. I am not looking forward to talking to her parents or Elder Mavri." She rose and stepped to where Iriana sat, then knelt to reach out and slowly stroke Mary's hair. The girl didn't stir. "Poor kid."

"Yeah." Iriana sighed and slowly stood up, careful not to jar the girl in her arms.

"We have a problem." Olim said slowly. "My remote sensors just tripped. I count three, no five, Specters approaching. They are not responding to my attempts at query." He drew an Amphrex crowd control weapon and nodded to Aziz who drew his Sydon. "If this goes pear shaped, try not to kill anyone. The Elders will have _words_ for whoever did this."

Aziz nodded, his form perfect as he took up a guard position on one side of the door. Olim took the other side. Both females moved so they were out of the immediate line of sight to the door and waited.

"Whoever is in there, this facility is private property and you are trespassing."

Iriana went totally still at the sound of the female voice that called into the room. She looked at Eliza who blanched at the Healer's expression and shook her head. Iriana held Mary out to the Empress who took her slowly. Iriana pointed to a corner and Eliza grimaced, but moved as instructed. She had to protect the sleeping girl.

The Healer nodded and then moved to stand in the doorway. She crossed her arms and scowled at what lay outside.

" _Healer Iriana_? What are _you_ doing here?" The female voice asked, suddenly wary.

"My _job_." Iriana's tone might have frozen a tide. "Not that _you_ would know a _thing_ about _my_ job, _Doctor_ Harpe." The honorific was heavily sarcastic and very much not a compliment.

 _Harpe?_ Eliza mouthed to Aziz who shook his head and shrugged. He didn't know what was going on, except that the Healer was pissed. The Hydroid shook his head and slowly holstered his Sydon, drawing another weapon. Olim winced and shook his own helmeted head.

"This is my facility, Healer." The other said flatly. "You are supposed to ask permission before entering."

"You were kind of asleep on the job and it was an emergency, but feel free to complain to the Elders. Please." Iriana might have been carved from stone now. "I want to watch." She snarled. "And then I want you to explain to them what you did to Mary."

"Healer, just leave." The other sounded tired now. "This doesn't concern you. One of our patients is inside that room. We will take her to care and..."

" _OVER MY DEAD BODY!_ " Iriana screamed and Aziz moved.

Before anyone else could blink, the Hydroid was standing in front of the furious Healer. But it was what was in his _hands_ that got _everyone's_ attention. Even Iriana gasped as she saw what he held. He had been willing to soldier on using the Gorgon that he had taken from the Jolly Roger, but Olim had taken one look at the Grineer machine gun and sniffed before offering Aziz a _much_ better primary weapon. The Zarr was big, heavy and mean looking. At this range, it would hit _everything_ in the _corridor_ if he used either mode, but he had it set to Barrage. He wasn't going to endanger the Healer if he could help it.

The five Specters stayed where they were, the stun weapons they carried woefully inadequate for facing a true warframe. Let alone two, but Olim was still hidden. The two doctors -a male and a female- who stood just behind them had paled. Neither wore any kind of armor. If he fired that thing, they were _pulp_.

"Who the hell are _you_?" The female doctor demanded. The male doctor's pants showed a stain on his crotch but he did not speak.

"No one of consequence." Aziz replied. "Just the Tenno with the cannon aimed at you. Do yourself a favor and shut up, you evil bitch!"

"You do not know what you are doing!" The woman said sternly. "Stand down, Tenno." Aziz ignored her, his eyes on everything and his finger on the trigger. "I gave you an _order!_ Stand down!"

"I don't take orders from you." Aziz said flatly. "You want me to move? Get the Lotus to ask me to. Feel _free_ to ask her to do that. See what _she_ says, you _child torturing scum_!"

He was only half surprised when a translucent hologram of the Lotus appeared in the middle of the scene. She was _fuming_!

"I am halfway tempted to tell you to fire."


	18. Chapter 18

**Standing up**

"I would rather not." Aziz said mildly. "I have never actually fired this weapon, but I bet it makes a great deal of mess. This place is supposed to be neutral ground. Not a mad scientist's den of horrors." The last was cold.

"What are you talking about?" The female doctor snapped, her face ashen. "This is place of healing."

"No, it is _not_." Iriana and the Lotus chorused.

No one moved and the Lotus spoke again.

"Elder Tims is on the way. Rachel is with him. She is _very_ angry." The guide of the Lotus said quietly. "I can't say I blame her. I have seen children tormented before, but not like this. Not by fellow Tenno. Not even _Sara_ was hurt like this. I expected better. I have notified Mary's parents and they are coming as well with Mavri. They are _also_ very angry."

"The Elders have no call to interfere here." The female doctor blustered. "This is a secure..." She broke off as Iriana's eyes flashed.

"Shut up." Iriana said in a deceptively mild tone. "I do not want to make a mess in this wonderful place and I am not a Warrior, but for _you_? I would make an exception. You quack! You _really_ think that your so called 'therapy' works. You really think that you help people. That locking them up is the best thing for them. Or do you just enjoy having them under your _thumb_?"

"You sanctimonious, stuck up med tech with-!" The doctor started, only to break off as Olim stepped out to flank Iriana. The Frost Prime was shaking his head and while warframe face plates could not show disgust, he managed somehow.

"By all mean, continue digging yourself in deeper." The Cyberlancer's tone was cool. "Everything you have said and _are_ saying is being recorded and transmitted into secure files for the Elders." Harpe blanched and he nodded. "I have also downloaded your secure files. Your encryptions are fairly good, not that it mattered. You made my sister as angry as you made me. They make for interesting reading." Iriana stared at him and he shook his head. "Not now, Healer. Mary needs help."

"Yeah. She is the important one." Iriana relaxed, just a little. Aziz did not. "Eliza? Bring Mary. We should leave this place and lock the door to keep morons from playing with things they do not understand."

"Once you leave, the door will seal." The Cephalon appeared nearby and both of the doctors Aziz was aiming at recoiled. "Mary is well?"

"She is a mess." Iriana said heavily. "But with care, she will recover."

"She will get care in one of the cells!" Harpe protested. She gasped as Olim drew his Twin Kama and Aziz took closer aim at her.

"Like _any_ Tenno will _ever_ trust _anything_ you say _ever_ again." Iriana said softly as Eliza stepped from the control room. She stepped up to the healer and shook her head at the tableau as the door clicked closed and locked behind them. Both doctors gaped at Mary's bone thin form. "We are taking Mary and we are _leaving_. You are not going to stop us." The Healer shook her head. "Part of me is begging, - _praying!_ \- for you to try."

"What happened to her?" Harpe asked, seemingly unsure for the first time.

"What the hell do _you_ care?" Iriana demanded. "You locked her up and forgot about her! Did you even _realize_ she was gone? Did you _give a shit_? Warn anyone? Ask anyone to help? No. People go into your horror and they are forgotten. You forget about them once they go in."

"Not everyone forgets. Morons." A cold, dark voice grumbled from behind the two doctors and they spun to see their worst nightmare appear from a cross corridor. The female doc wet herself. Nikis was _not_ happy. "You got a loud voice, Healer."

"Bite me, Nikis." Iriana was not in the mood and more than one person blanched, but Nikis just chuckled.

"Nah." The gunfighter took another step and shook his head, his hands on his pistols. "Ya would taste terrible." Iriana stared at the pitch black Nekros and then smothered a laugh. Harpe opened her mouth, but closed it when Nikis speared a finger at her. "Ya say _one word_ and I _will_ shoot ya. Won't _kill_ ya, but I _will_ hurt ya. That ain't _my_ kid ya tortured this time. _Others_ got call on ya candy ass before _I_ get it."

"Healer." Eliza said weakly as Mary moaned. "She is shivering."

Iriana was at Eliza's side in an instant, her hands flying. Olim and Aziz both closed ranks on front of the two women as Nikis strode right through the group in front of them as if he hadn't a care in the world. Maybe he didn't. He didn't care about much, that ancient gunfighter.

"No She is _arresting_!" Iriana breathed as Mary gasped and then lay still in Eliza's arm. She was working feverishly, but nothing she did seemed to have any effect. "No! Mary. Come on girl! You are _safe_! Not after all of this! Not _now!_ "

She froze as Nikis slowly reached past her and placed a hand on the girl's head. Her started protest fell flat when Nikis spoke again.

"This ain't your time, girl." The gunfighter was calm and assured as always, but… softer? A subtly different form of his usual orange energy swept from his hand to cover Mary even as Eliza and Iriana both gasped. "Don't ya go rushin' off to ya reward just yet. Ya gots a long life ahead of ya, girl and people who love ya. Richard wanted ya to live."

 _He died._ A very small voice sounded from nowhere as Mary gasped and then started to breathe again. _He was nice to me. I betrayed him and he died._ She was crying. Tears were falling as Nikis stroked her cheek gently.

"It weren't you, girl." Nikis tone was so gentle, so soft. So utterly unlike the normal asshole Nekros that _everyone_ stared at him in shock. "I feel I failed 'im too, sometimes. He were my friend and I couldn't help 'im. None of us is perfect, but we gots to keep trying. We gots to keep going. It all we can do."

 _It hurts._ Mary begged. _It hurts so much. I don't wanna wake up!_ _Don't make me wake up!_ She begged.

"I know." Nikis rubbed her hair gently. "But ya gotta. Ya mom and dad would miss ya. It ain't your time, girl. Come on. Stop scaring the Healer. She gets all riled when people scare her." Iriana growled at him and he chuckled. "See?"

 _Mom? Dad?_ Mary's voice was little stronger. _I feel...strange._

"It gonna be a bit weird and parts may hurt, but ya gonna be okay, girl." Nikis said as he gave her head a pat. "There are gonna be some loud noises, likely some angry people around. They ain't angry with _you_. No one is angry with you. Go on, girl. Go back to sleep. The Library will help. That is what it is for."

 _But when I sleep, bad things happen._ Mary protested weakly.

"Not this time, darlin'. This time ya dreams'll be pleasant for once." Nikis said gently. Mary gave a soft sigh and fell into a normal sleep. The energy he had been coating her with faded. He looked from Aziz at Olim, from Iriana to Eliza. "Do I need to say it?" He asked quietly.

"We see _nothing_." Eliza said with only a hint of a smile. "We hear _nothing_."

"Don't you quote Sergeant Schultz at me." Nikis said sternly but then he chuckled as Iriana stared at him in horror. "It is all right, Healer. That was allowed. She is a minor and it wasn't her time."

"Who are _you_ to choose..." Harpe started, but then froze. Having the muzzle of a Magnus revolver simply appear in one's face normally did that to anyone with even a lick of sense. But Nikis did not fire. Instead…

" _He_ didn't." A strong male voice sounded from behind them and everyone turned to see _Hayden Tenno_ standing there, his shade golden in the dim light of the corridor. The First Tenno looked sad, but he wasn't alone. Another form, much larger than his stood nearby. The First Rhino was crying as he looked at Mary. "He thought she had suffered enough. That she should pass from her pain and have a long rest. But another Guardian kept us appraised and Rhino asked us to deliberate. We did. We chose to ask Nikis to intervene."

Other golden transparent forms were appearing behind the other two. Mag in particular was glaring at the docs but _none_ of them looked happy.

"Messing with that ain't something to ever do lightly." Nikis said as he looked at Iriana. The Healer flushed. He had saved her somehow that he refused to speak of. "The girl is and will be in pain. For a long time. Dustin is beyond pain. She ain't. But she will be good til you can get 'er to an ICU."

"Are you _done_?" A loud female voice sounded and Nikis winced as everyone turned to see another form standing nearby. A human? No. No, she _wasn't_ human. There was an otherworldly beauty about her, far too much to be human. She wore an ancient looking blue gown. Her hair was long and black but had a silver streak down across the front. "You have a session to finish and Janet is waiting. You know how the Old Wolf is around women who he can flirt with, Nikis. I do _not_ want Poledra mad at me." She shuddered dramatically.

"Did Ce'Nedra ever forgive him for the flirting?" Nikis asked as he started for her. She shook her head. "That guy… I swear…"

"Don't swear. You are better than Father, but not by much." The woman said with a growl. "Janet would make me wash your mouth out. You are coming back to the session now. Say 'Yes, Polgara' and come along."

"'Yes, Polgara'." Nikis was shaking his head as she led him away.

"Uh… _Lady_ Polgara?" Aziz asked into the _utter_ silence that followed Nikis' sudden change from badass to subservient.

"Yes?" The woman paused and turned to eye the Hydroid, her eyes speculative.

"I am Sir Aziz. I won't keep you, Milady." Aziz bowed to her from the neck and she accepted his bow with a regal nod. "But I was wondering: Is Sir Sparhawk around?"

"I really couldn't say. You would have to ask the Library." The lady with the silver streak in her hair said with a shrug but her eyes were twinkling. "But rest assured, if he _is_ … He is up to his neck in trouble."

"Is he ever _not_?" Aziz asked, curious.

"I don't know." Polgara shrugged again. "Then again, I heard something about someone named Althalus running around with him so my personal bet is that they are up to mischief." Aziz stared at her and she smiled and the corridor seemed to brighten. "But you really have to ask the Library. _This one_ has another session to attend and his mate is likely getting antsy by now. A bored _Oracle_ and my _Father_...the mind boggles." She snapped her fingers at Nikis who winced. "Come along, boy."

"Who are you what you can call _Nikis_ that?" Eliza finally found her tongue.

"She is Polgara the Sorceress. Daughter of Belgarath the Eternal Man. Duchess of Erat, Dame of Vo Wacune." Aziz said slowly. "Aunt of Belgarion, King of Riva. Most powerful healer and sorceress in _any_ of David Edding's works. And no, I am not going to comment on how old she is. I like my health."

"Smart Tenno." Polgara shrugged again, but she was smiling. "Sephrina is no slouch either and not one to tick off. But I am not going to cross Emmy. That cat _cheats_." She nodded. "Well met, sir knight. I will put in a word for you with the Pandion Order if you wish."

"I would be honored." Aziz said softly.

"You say that _now_." Polgara waved to Nikis and he started off again. "You get drunk with Kalten or anything equally dumb and all bets are off." Then they were gone.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Aziz said weakly. He turned to see everyone staring at him. "What? A guy can't _read_? Don't tell Nikis that."

"What was that? That woman?" Harpe asked, confused.

" _That_ was a hard light hologram that emulated a fictional character." Iriana said with a shrug. "Since you built your oh so special facility atop an ancient Library, it stands to reason that you will see odd things."

" _That_ wasn't odd." Aziz said quietly. Everyone looked at him again and he shrugged. "Polgara is fairly laid back until you make her angry. Then things tend to _explode_. Statues, walls, _cities_. Now if _Althalus_ or worse _Emmy_ show up? We might want to _run_."

"That sound very interesting." Olim said mildly. He had not sheathed his Dual Kama. "Eddings, you say?"

"Yeah, David and Leigh." Aziz waved the muzzle of his Zarr at the doctors who started off, their expressions somewhere between worry and terror. "Not the absolute best stories I ever read, but good reading. I think I want to come back, if only to see what Althalus and Sparhawk get up to."

"You are welcome to come back. Now that Mary is no longer trapped in the control room, all systems are functioning at full capacity." The Library hologram said calmly. "But Mary needs medical attention first."

"True." Iriana kept her eyes on the slumbering girl. "Tim to get her into a soundproof ICU room while the rest of us… have a talk."

* * *

An hour later

Mary's mother's name was Eleanor. She was a tailor and a cook of some renown in her home colony, a laid back and easy going lady of middle years for a Tenno. So it came as a bit of a surprise when _she_ was the first to haul off and slug Doctor Harpe full in the jaw.

The room was crowded with Elders, Warriors and guards as well as Eliza, Iriana and the family. The two doctors wore restraints now and had two Tenno in warframes standing beside two colony guards. Ming and Aziz had volunteered for the duty and had stood by while the Elders had gathered. But then Harpe had insulted Iriana again and before any of the Elders could _speak_ , Eleanor had taken two steps, drawn her fist back and knocked Harpe to the floor as _everyone_ stared at her in shock.

"Shut up." The older Tenno female said with a growl worthy of Nikis. "You have nothing to say that we want to hear. Just shut up." The colony guards took hold of her and she did not resist as they pulled her away from Harpe.

"You actually believe this Stalker lover's word for anything?" Harpe demanded as she rose to her feet unsteadily. No one offered to help her. Not even her colleague.

"Yes." Eleanor shrugged out of the guard's grip once she was away form Harpe and moved to stand by Iriana whose face was wooden. She laid an arm around Iriana's shoulders and hugged the Healar gently. "I trust her far more than I trust anything _you_ say. You lying _Mezner_."

At that, every Tenno in the room winced. 'Mezner' was the single worst insult a Tenno could give. It normally meant the recipient of the insult was dead, or would be very shortly. The origin of the word had been lost in antiquity, but it basically meant 'evil one' with a lot of other negative connotations including 'worm dung', 'madman' and 'politician'.

"You are better than her, Eleanor." Iriana hugged the older Tenno woman back. "Mary is alive and she will stay that way."

"I trusted her, Healer." Eleanor was crying as Iriana held her. "And Mary paid for it."

"Mary is alive and while her recovery will take some time, she will be fine." Iriana reassured the distraught mother. "Besides, no matter how inventive _we_ might get? _Nikis_ will do _worse_."

Everyone in the room shuddered at that, including Eleanor and Iriana, but then Eleanor relaxed.

"Thank you, Healer." Mary's mother said sadly. "Are we… She is going to have to be moved?" She looked through the window into another room where Mary lay asleep, tended by both Tenno medics and machines.

"The Grineer apparently lost whatever they were tracking when we freed Mary and the Library took control back." Olim said. "We have time, if not an unlimited amount. We can stop the Fomorian, but the Grineer will send more troops and ships to find out where the energy came from."

Everyone nodded, there wasn't really anything else to say. The Grineer defined stubborn at times and when they ran into a foe who fought back? They swamped the area with troops, ships and guns until the foe was either destroyed or ran. Even with the stubbornness of Tenno Warriors defending it, the colony would _have_ to evacuate. The only question was how long they had.

Eliza stood in one corner, ignored by everyone except Aziz who had made it his self appointed duty to ward her. Iriana had no shortage of defenders, but Eliza was alone until her guards woke up, which should be soon. She would return to where she came from, Aziz was sure. But then the colony had only a short while to… To…

A short time. Maybe a _year_.

Aziz inhaled sharply and everyone turned to stare at the Hydroid. He nodded and spoke up.

"The Grineer are seeking the source of the energy. _We_ know that it is the Library. _They_ likely don't." His words were mostly a question to Olim who shook his head.

"Highly unlikely." Olim replied. "No signals from the Fomorian or its escorts show they have any idea what the source is. Just that it is somewhere in this area. They will search until they find it."

"What if it wasn't?" Aziz asked. "What if...the source was mobile? Hidden _near_ this asteroid, but not part of it. What if… it started to move? What would they do?"

"Chase it of course." Rachel hadn't said much, but she had been there from the beginning glaring at the docs, but now she was eyeing Aziz as he started to chuckle. "Aziz..." She warned.

" _I_ got this."

* * *

Deep space

Grineer were not the brightest of bulbs, but even they could detect when a massive energy source appeared in the asteroid field they had been closing on and started to move towards the Fomorian. Of course they went to battle stations and started to close on the new target.

They were _not_ prepared for the first scanner images of the spacecraft that their scouts sent back. It wasn't a Corpus ship, an Orokin ship, or even some kind of Tenno ship. It was large, but it was all wrong for anything the Grineer knew. It looked more like an ancient water craft than a spacecraft. It had three huge turrets with big guns and many smaller turrets with smaller guns, so it was obviously a warship of some kind, but… Odd.

They did a data search and eventually their databases managed to scrape up the designation of 'World War II Japanese battleship Yamato'. By then, it was clear that the other ship was moving into attack position, which was _ludicrous_. It was _much_ smaller than a Fomorian, but... But even that designation was wrong. The battleship Yamato hadn't had a huge thruster on its stern or a _huge_ hole its _bow_. The lower hull was red, the upper gray. The only insignia was a white anchor on either side. None of the Grineer commanders had any idea what was happening. They opened communications to demand surrender and waited for a response.

They did not like the response they got.

Two words flew across the cosmos as the energy the Grineer had been tracking seemed to explode in front of them.

"YAMATO HASSHIN!"

* * *

 **I am willing to bet that ANY fan of anime knows what is about to happen.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Blazing**

The first nine shots took the Grineer completely by surprise. No one faced a Grineer fleet with a _single ship_. No one. This was so totally implausible as to be ridiculous. But it was happening. Two Galleons took direct hits and one went dead in space, the other suffered heavy damage but was still functional.

The impossibilities continued as a hatch opened on the rear of the odd ship and small yellow and black craft started swarming from it.

The Grineer, being what they were, returned fire almost immediately. But their heavy shells seemed to have no effect. So they launched fighters and bombers to engage the enemy ship while the Fomorian warmed up its main cannon.

Problem was… They were not the only ones preparing.

* * *

On the bridge of a very special ship

"Bombers, point three!" Came the call.

Aziz watched as the battle honed professionals who called the Yamato home swung into action. He didn't really have anything to do and hadn't really needed to come, but in the deepest hidden place inside his soul, he knew he couldn't have been anywhere else as the Yamato went into action again. He was, at heart, a sailor. Maybe a pirate at times, but a sailor _all_ the time. He couldn't have been anywhere else.

He stood beside the command console at the back, out of the way, but ready for whatever as Captain Okita took in the tactical scene at a glance. The rest of the bridge crew was working their consoles.

"You say their main weapon is laser based? Okita asked Aziz who nodded. The normal rules did not apply here, but he did not want to distract anyone from their duties. "Any idea how long to charge?"

Aziz thought before responding. He had never actually fought a Fomorian outside of the Jolly Roger and he had always been busy trying to survive to watch timers. While he could technically get the precise information from the Lotus, it might or might not make any sense to these. Their systems of measurement were subtly different, but totally comprehensible.

"When they engaged my ship, it took them about four minutes between shots, but I do not know if that is the fastest they can cycle." Aziz said quietly.

"Very well. Coms! Warn the Black Tigers of heavy fire inbound and outbound. Try to keep them out the space of between us and enemy battleship." The Captain barked and the crew jumped to obey. "Point defense free! Helm, turn us so we can get a bearing on that enemy ship at point four. When turrets one and two are clear, you may fire when ready, Lieutenant Kodai."

The two men in question acknowledged the commands as they worked their controls. The ship shuddered a Grineer ordnance hit it. Even knowing the whole ship and everything on it was made of hard light holograms and not vulnerable to Grineer weapons, Aziz felt a sense of trepidation as successive waves of Grineer bombers made their runs.

Even knowing it would happen, Aziz could not help a feeling of awe as the area in front of the space-borne battleship lit up with tiny streams of light. It was eerily and scarily beautiful. The Yamato's point defense batteries took out Grineer bomber after Grineer bomber. Then two of the main shock cannon batteries fired. _Six_ massive blue streaks of energy tore into the closest Galleon. It shuddered and then broke up into several pieces, one of which continued to fire at the Yamato.

It had taken a lot of fast talking to get the Library to allow this. The Elders had flatly refused it, but Aziz had looked at Rachel and she had given him a tiny nod. Eliza had been smiling as the Hydroid had dissolved into Undertow, slid into a drain and traveled as quickly as he could back to the now sealed Library. It wasn't sealed enough to keep him out though and he had made his way into the control room unhindered. There, he had presented his case. The Library had been _less_ than enthused.

Aziz understood oaths. He understood them well. Anatoly, the creator of the Library and the basis for the Cephalon that ran it, had been a non-violent sort. He had deplored such things and Aziz applauded that. If there were more people like Anatoly in the universe, it would be a much more peaceful place. Unfortunately, there were not and it wasn't. Aziz could have sat in the control chair and taken control without against Library's will, but he had refused to even when the Library had threatened to reactivate the security protocols it had deactivated when it had detected Mary sneaking in. It hadn't wanted to harm her.

He wasn't entirely sure, but he was almost convinced that his stubborn refusal to _force_ the Library into compliance was what had swayed the other. Tenno feared loss of control more than almost anything else in existence. Aziz wasn't going to do that to anyone, be they organic or synthetic. That was what the Orokin had done so long ago and Aziz was no Orokin.

The Library had finally allowed it, albeit with massive misgivings. Aziz had promised that this would be the only time it was used for violence and this time was both to protect the Library itself and the inhabitants of the colony, which included Mary at the moment. He was sure that the Library had soft spot for the poor tyke. Then again, so did _Aziz_. The girl had suffered enough for one lifetime. Maybe two. It wasn't every day that Nikis was so kind and gentle either. So the Library had agreed to divert the Grineer's attention away from the colony. Loudly.

That had led Aziz to an airlock where his Archwing had been waiting. Various people had tried to stop him. None of the Warriors had. Rachel in particular and the Lotus had both been totally silent. He had been in mid space when the hologram had appeared. It was as he remembered from his earliest fragmented childhood memory, huge, mighty and close enough to touch. They had let him aboard and then the Yamato had set sail once more.

"Power readings are climbing. Enemy capital ship is powering its main weapon." Came the call from the science officer, shaking Aziz out of his reverie. He jerked but he had not missed much. The Grineer were regrouping, having lost a Galleon and several waves of bombers. But lives meant nothing to the Grineer, a point he had made over and over to the Library.

"Helm! Three points to starboard and down fifty! All hands, brace for impact." Captain Okita said over the intercom as space in front of the Yamato lit up. The red beam licked out from the Fomorian and hit the Yamato a glancing strike across the bow. Amplified light energy converted to kinetic energy that shook the entire ship, but even Aziz could see the damage was minimal. Between the hard light hologram's force fields and the Yamato's massive armor plating, it would take many, many hits to…

Something was wrong!

The spot where the beam had hit was still glowing red. It shouldn't have been doing that. Aziz stared at it and then at the Captain who shook his head.

"That wasn't just a laser." Okita said flatly. "Helm! Evasive course. Science. Find out what hit us. Damage control, determine status of Wave Motion Gun."

Aziz felt his guts clench. The Yamato's Wave Motion Gun was its most powerful weapon. A full power shot could take out the Fomorian easily enough, but it took time to charge and also left the ship vulnerable for a time after firing while the power systems reset.

"All systems read green, Captain." Lieutenant Kodai reported from his weapons control panel. "But that beam did hit close to the power channel."

"I do not like mysteries in battle." Captain Okita growled and Aziz nodded. Such things had a bad tendency to bite, hard, at the worst possible times. Surprise was good when it was you surprising your enemies. When they surprised you? Not so good. "Guns, continue fire on enemy vessels at your discretion. Science, report."

"Inconclusive, Captain." The science officer reported. "The readings are not making any sense."

Aziz stiffened and looked at the Captain who nodded. Aziz shot to the side of the science officer who looked at him apprehensively, but edged away to let Aziz peruse the readouts. What the Tenno saw indeed, did not make any sense. Lasers did understandable damage. Fomorian lasers did a lot more, but the damage that was done to the hull looked as if physical had punched into it.

Physical?

"Hmm." Aziz said slowly as the readings _did_ make sense. Somehow, the Grineer had targeted the same place as the laser shot with an exquisitely timed assault pod of Marines. They couldn't do a lot of damage, not to a hologram, but they _could_ do some and if they got into the wrong places… He stepped back to Okita and spoke softly. "Captain, can I get an exterior view of that damage?"

Okita looked sharply at him but then nodded and the overhead screen shone a gray section of hull. A section that was now swarming with green armored figures.

"Boarders!" Lieutenant Kodai said with a growl, starting to rise.

"They cannot do but so much damage." Okita reassured the bridge crew. "Remain at your posts. The mission remains. That colony must be protected."

"If they did it once, they will do it again." Aziz said flatly. "How long to charge your main gun?"

"Two minutes." Captain Okita said without even looking at his displays.

"Continue your battle, Captain. I will take care of your boarders." Aziz said firmly as he turned to the bridge hatch.

"Alone?" Kodai demanded, half amazed, half angry.

"No." Aziz slumped a little. "I am not alone. They didn't trust me."

"What?" Kodai froze as his display lit up again. "Internal cameras are showing three more...beings like you." His face worked as he stared at Aziz.

"He told me, Kodai." Captain Okita said quietly. "Of _course_ they sent people with him. They cannot _trust_ someone with the power he wielded to bring this ship and _us_ into being, Kodai. Would _you_ trust _anyone_ with such?"

"You." Kodai said quietly. "No one else."

"Don't. I am as human as you are, Kodai." Okita said sadly. "For now? We have our battle to win. Tenno Aziz has his. I assume you know the way?" Aziz had to smile, he had memorized the Yamato's deck plans as a child and such old memories were still whole, as compared to many others lost in cryosleep.

"Yes sir. And sir..."Aziz slowly reached up with one hand and gave the elderly captain the StarForce salute. "If we don't meet again, it has been an honor."

"The honor is ours, Tenno." But Aziz did not move and Captain Okita smiled as he rose and returned the salute. "Thanks to you, Yamato flies once more and even if these are not our own enemies, they will remember the name 'Yamato'!"

Aziz joined the cheer that sounded across the bridge. Then he ran.

The others joined him without a word. And he appreciated that. He had been called a lot of things by a lot of people when he had taken control of the Library to form the Yamato. Iriana in particular had been loud in her denunciations, calling him an enslaver, a monster and many other things. She understood why he did it, he knew that. But it hurt. When this was over, he would face a trial at the very least but it was worth it.

By plan, the Yamato was drawing the Grineer further and further away from the colony and now, no holograms would ever be sent past the facility's physical limits so there would be nothing to track. Aziz and the Library had both worked out a way to manage that and with luck no one would ever discover the way into the control room that Aziz had entered before the Library could plug it. Once the control room was sealed, no one could do what Aziz had done and the Library would go back to being what it was intended to be. A place of rest. A place of healing. No place for one like Aziz even if the Library had promised her would always be welcome there.

"You okay?" The quiet voice at his side jerked Aziz up short. He stared at the Nyx Prime warframe that stood beside him and shook his head. She nodded. "The right thing is rarely the easy thing. Iriana understands, she just cannot accept it."

"I abused an ancient and wonderful thing, Warlord Tiana. A fully sentient being with thoughts and dreams. I manipulated it into doing what I wished." Aziz said sadly. "I though it knew what I was doing and I was wrong."

"Were you?" Tiana asked as he led the way through a labyrinth that would have made sense to few people, but to Aziz it was like coming home. "You knew Olim was still listening."

"I didn't actually." Aziz said slowly. Then he paused. " _He_ can get in, can't he?"

"Probably." Tiana shrugged. "But he won't. You swore for all of us. He will abide by your oath, even if it wasn't the right thing to do. Which it was. You could have simply taken control. You didn't."

"It wouldn't have been right." Aziz said sadly. "Even with everything else, it wouldn't have been right."

"Which is why no Warrior tried to stop you." Tiana said quietly. He paused and stared at her. She shook her head. "We know the line between right and wrong, Aziz, we straddle it every day. You asked the Library's aid and worked to convince it. You did not demand. You did not order. You did not enslave, no matter what Iriana says in her anger. You _asked_."

"I was selfish." Aziz said as he started off again. "I so wanted to see this ship. To hear its captain say 'Hasshin!'." To be there as it went into battle again. To be a little child again. But I am not. I can't be." He heard shouts and screams ahead of him and drew his Sydon. The others with him drew their weapons as well. With friendlies mixed in with enemies, firearms were a _bad_ idea.

"We cannot go back." Tiana agreed. "Tenno serve."

"We do not rule." Aziz agreed and Tidal Surged the first Grineer he saw.

On one level, it was just another battle with Grineer. Warrior Tenno lived to fight. It was what they were, what they were for. On the minus side, being composed of energy and clad in meat and then surrounded by biotech armor did not allow for many other pursuits in life. The plus side? They were _good_ at it.

Tiana was mere moments behind Aziz as the four Tenno crunched into the ranks of Grineer who had been trying without success to kill the humans who they had found in the odd ship. It just wasn't fair to be a Grineer sometimes. One particular Nox was actually _crying_ as he fired his poison glob thing over and over at a small thin human woman who plinked him with her sidearm. The massive blobs of noxious material did _nothing_ to her and she was making funny faces at him as she fired. Her aim wasn't all that great and her weapon wasn't very powerful, but the Grineer couldn't _hurt_ her.

Given time and the ability to examine their surroundings, the Grineer strike team and follow up forces could possibly determine way to disable the Yamato's main gun. That could not be allowed. The hologram's energy would fade here in deep space, leaving the Grineer with no answers and no prizes.

"Starforce, fall back!" Kodai's voice came over the com. "Let our allies handle these! One minute to firing." The humans withdrew quickly as the Tenno slammed into their foes.

Aziz saw Ming body check a Grineer Lancer into another pair of clones and then the Chroma was in their midst, his Orthos flashing as he tore them apart. Rica was right beside him, a Kestrel flying from her hands to strike three enemies in rapid succession, then it come back to her hand in time to slam a luckless Scorpion to the deck. Banshee warframes were not as durable in melee combat as some other frames, but they were as deadly in close quarters as any warframe. Numbers meant nothing at all when Tenno were involved as the Grineer had learned over and over.

A scream tore from a human throat and all four Tenno spun to see the human woman who had been making faces at the Nox in the hands of a familiar form whose abdomen was composed of glowing golden energy. Captain Vor looked downright cheerful.

"A fine prize, you Tenno have led us to." The undead Grineer was doing something and the human's face was pleading as her form faded. "Holograms. _Hard light_ holograms. An intriguing form of technology that the Queens will make use of."

"SHOOT HIM, TENNO!" The human screamed as her form was drained by the Grineer. "He will stop us!"

"No, he won't." A soft voice said quietly. Every Grineer in the area stared at the hologram of the Lotus who appeared nearby, Vor included. A hum built and Aziz felt the power flare just as the Library had warned. "You will survive this, Vor. No one else will. You see..." Vor stiffened. Aziz didn't need to watch to know that Tiana and the others had bolted. Aziz wouldn't. Not now. This had always been the plan. "One of the most powerful weapons in existence is one that Grineer simply cannot fathom. It eludes you no matter how much you fight or kill. Your queens would _never_ be able to do this kind of thing and thus, neither can any of you. You all lack something fundamental that is required."

"And what might that be?" Vor demanded, the form in his hands not fading anymore. "We are Grineer! We will take your weapon and destroy you with it!"

"The weapon is _imagination_ , Captain Vor. Not something your people can steal." The Lotus said sadly as she looked at Aziz. "I am sorry for what Iriana said. So is she. She was angry and sad."

"What have you done?" Vor demanded as the hum built to a fever pitch and the walls of the hallway started to glow.

"We have denied you your prize." _Aziz spoke in the field_ and all the Grineer stared at him. Tenno did not do that! He Tidal Surged forward, slamming into Vor and the other remaining Grineer. As he had hoped, the impact tossed the human away as he pulled the Grineer through a hatch that slammed shut after them. He smiled under his faceplate as Vor regained his equilibrium. The Grineer Marines were not going to get up in time to do anything.

"A stupid move, Tenno." Vor declared. "In these close quarters, your warframe is no match for-" He broke off as Aziz pointed behind the Grineer. "You think I am going to fall for _that_?" The Grineer demanded.

Aziz shrugged and watched as the cartridge for the Wave Motion Gun slammed into place and utterly _insane_ amounts of power channeled through the cylindrical room that Aziz had tossed Vor into.

 _The beam channel of the Yamato's Wave Motion Gun._

* * *

The colony

Everyone watched as the humongous beam of energy tore from the tiny looking ship to slam into the Fomorian.

Every Tenno felt it. They felt the mental scream that came and went so quickly as Aziz's energy was torn to pieces and thrown with the beam at the Grineer super ship. Iriana was crying and Eleanor held her as they watched the Fomorian turn into a pint sized sun for a moment and then vanished. The Grineer fled as the Yamato fired all nine of her shock cannons and hit _nothing_. She fired again as her hull wavered and phased, her energy dissipating. The fictional warship fired her shock cannons over and over hastening her own vanishing from existence, doing nothing but lighting space for a few moments.

"What are they _doing_?" Eleanor asked for everyone.

"Saying goodbye to a brave sailor."


	20. Chapter 20

**Legendary**

"No! He couldn't have _just_..."

Mary was crying in her bed as Eleanor sat beside her holding her hand. The woman hadn't left Mary's side for the two days it had taken Mary to wake from her ordeals. Everyone had come to see the tyke wake up and while she was unsure of the attention, she was on her best behavior with the Lotus, Nikis, and Rachel of the First along Healer Iriana all standing there with _three_ Elders (Tims, Mavri and Raven) and Tiana of Karl's Shadow hugging the wall. Mary's father had been there, but he had gone home to make sure that medical care for Mary was set up in her home colony. He would be coming back in a few hours.

Iriana had asked to be the one to break the news to Mary about Aziz because she felt shamed the worst. To have reviled the Tenno so badly and have him sacrifice himself so bravely… It hurt.

"He did what he did to protect the Library and the colony, Mary." Iriana's eyes were hooded in grief. "I don't agree with what he did or how he did it, but it is hard to argue with the results."

The Grineer had left. Indeed, they seemed to be a bit warier about entering this area of space. Hard to blame them, really.

"He didn't have to _die!_ " Mary blubbered and Eleanor gave her hand a squeeze. No one would meet her eyes and she scowled through her tears. "He _didn't!_ "

Wonder of wonders, _Nikis_ spoke!

"Mary, there is an old saying. Power corrupts." The ancient Nekros said quietly. "I am living proof. I ain't who I was. I am never going to be who I was. I am far worse now than I was when Orokin thrived and that being wasn't who became a Tenno so long ago." He shook his head. "Mary, Aziz _knew_ his own limits. He knew _no one_ could be trusted with such power. Which is why before he went into the Library this last time, he swore an oath on the Code for all Tenno. In the name of _all Tenno_ , never to use the Library's power for violence after he passed away. He knew he wasn't going to survive what happened."

"But _why?_ " Mary demanded angrily. "He wasn't bad! He _wasn't!_ " More than one person blanched at that, but Nikis just shook his head.

"Mary, think about it. What can be done with hard light?" Nikis asked softly. "If it can be used for violence, what _cannot_ be done with it?" Mary paled and Nikis nodded. "We could make copies of the First. Either let their shades ride them or use them as puppets. They would be next to invincible. Why shouldn't we?"

"Grandmaster… She is only _seven_." Eleanor started, but Mary just bowed her head. "Mary?"

"Such would be wrong and far too easy for anyone to abuse. I did so many terrible things, Mom." Mary said weakly. "I sent out things that hurt Tenno Jill and Caretaker Jasmina. I..." She swallowed hard. "I am ready to accept punishment."

"Mary!" Eleanor said sharply.

The Elders looked from Mary to her mother. Then at each other. Then they looked at Nikis who shook his head slowly. Each Elder mirrored that and then they left the room! Mary stared at the door in shock, but Nikis spoke up again.

"What happened wasn't your fault, girl." Nikis said gently. "You have had barely any training, and you didn't have any guide since the Library was constrained not to let you do anything. While you were awake, the Library could keep you distracted, keep you from doing anything, but when you slept it couldn't stop your access to the neural feeds" Mary gave a sob and Nikis shook his head again. "No one blames you for having bad dreams, Mary. No one. You were trapped and slowly starving to death. The Code doesn't cover anything like this, for a very good reason. You were not at fault." Nikis shrugged at her stunned look. "The _only_ thing you did that you could _possibly_ be charged for was escaping being confined and no one is _dumb_ enough to do that. Not even the quacks now."

"Why did they lock me up?" Mary begged as Eleanor held her hand. "It didn't help."

"No, it didn't." Iriana said sadly. "But you see, people are people, Mary. Be they human, Tenno, Grineer or anything else, sentient beings are going to be different. They are going to have different opinions and ideas from each other." She was trying very hard to be fair and everyone knew it. She was very angry with those docs still and would be for a long time. "They truly thought they were doing right by locking you away from others, sequestering you from society. The rest of us feel _very_ differently about that." This last was dry.

"What will happen to them?" Mary asked in a small voice.

"That is not your concern, Mary." Eleanor started, but Nikis laid a hand on her arm and she froze, staring at the ancient Nekros.

"She doesn't need platitudes right now." Nikis said mildly. "She needs to know the monsters are not lurking right outside the door. They are not, girl. I scared 'em off." He said in a funny voice to Mary who smiled at him a little tremulously.

"Smart monsters." If Mary's voice was slightly off key, no one was going to mention it.

"Yeah. I don't know what is gonna happen, Mary." Nikis said with a shrug. "I gave up trying to figure other people out a long, long time ago. One thing I can be sure of though, they ain't gonna be allowed to do what they did. Ever again." He shook his had. "Funny how it takes a near tragedy to get everyone focused on what is important."

"Nikis." Iriana warned. Nikis shied away comically and Mary smiled a bit more naturally at his antics. Then the girl wilted. "Mary?" Iriana asked as she scanned the equipment.

"I am sleepy." Mary said softly. "But I am afraid that this is just a dream. I dreamed of Mom… I dreamed of Dad." Eleanor gave a tiny sob as she squeezed Mary's hand again.

"Did you dream of _me_ , darlin'?" Nikis asked gently. Mary shook her head and Nikis chuckled a little sourly. "Well, there you have it then. Reality with all its silliness and nastiness. You wanna sleep, no one is gonna stop you. Ya need it. Ya need it _bad,_ girl."

"I know." Mary's eyes were closing. "Grandmaster… I… I didn't send the guy on the robot." Eleanor stared from Mary to Nikis who shook his head. She refrained from comment.

"Don't you worry about that none, girl." Nikis said gently. "Right now, you gotta heal and grow strong so you can go home. That is all you gotta worry about. We know. We are looking into it. You do what the healer tells you. You mind me, girl?"

"I will." Mary sighed deeply, her breathing becoming slow and regular. "Can you tell me a story?"

Eleanor opened her mouth, but closed it again as Nikis laid a hand on her arm again and shook his head. _He_ spoke softly and slowly.

"Once upon a time there was little girl named Goldilocks..."

* * *

Anatoly's Library

"She did not do it." The Library sounded upset, but it had sounded that way ever since Aziz had perished. "If she had sent out a hologram, it would have appeared as thus, not what you describe."

A holo of a man on white horse appeared nearby. The horse reared and then ran off into the sunset, the man waving his hat in the air.

Three Tenno stood just inside the entrance. Only readers were allowed further in, and the Library was not about to lessen any strictures for quite some time, if ever. Alicia, Aeron and Will had stepped out of the Library refreshed and recharged. All three wanted to come back, but their duty as Tenno meant that they had many other things to do. Tiana was meeting with Mary's parents and Iriana, so Cathi Gata had been delegated to try and figure out what had happened along with Olim. Martin had sort of attached himself to the small group and no one really minded. He was quite useful, if a bit on the bent side.

"Yeah." Martin mused. "That is the Lone Ranger that Nikis told us about. White horse, white hat, black mask. Silver bullets." He pulled a small object out of a pouch and stared at it. "The batarang that your hologram used to free Isha from her restraints faded as soon as the hologram did. Why didn't this?"

"That is not a hologram." The Cephalon that ran the Library said calmly. All three Tenno stiffened. "Nothing that the Library could have projected made that."

"But it had to." Cathi Gata said weakly. "I mean, the Lone Ranger is not _real_."

"All the data on the holograms that were sent out has been provided and corroborated." The Library replied. Olim nodded to that. "So, I do not know what to say. The Library did not do it. Mary did not do it."

"Could _Nikis_ have done it somehow while dreaming?" Olim asked softly. Martin thought about that and then groaned.

"I don't know." Martin admitted. "He is the eldest Guardian, and he has tricks that most of us can only dream of. But he was _here_ when it happened. Forming a hologram at that range? Any guardian can form a hologram, but not from so far away and not hard light. Even Nikis has limits and he was reading."

"Ah, this is not good." Cathi Gata said weakly. "We have _another_ … weird thing running around?" She paused and looked at the Cephalon. "No offense meant."

"No offense was taken. Your point is apt." The Cephalon sounded worried too. "And-" It paused. "Tenno Jill is waking. She should not be yet."

"Call Iriana!" Olim said flatly. "Is Jill close to the entrance?"

"Yes." The Cephalon spun on its holographic axis and a door nearby started to flash. "And… She is not alone _!_ "

"Library!" Cathi Gata had her Glaive in hand, Olim his Dual Kamas Prime and Martin a Lacera. "May we aid out sister?"

"Yes." The Library retreated as the Tenno all but charged the door. It opened, but what happened next…

"They are here." A quiet voice sounded from inside the room. "Tenno Jill, you need to go back to sleep. You will hurt yourself."

"My clan… need me..." Jill's voice was slurred.

"They need you _alive_!" The other said with a trace of heat. All three Tenno entered the cell and came to a sudden halt. "Hi guys."

Jill was sitting upon the bed, but her eyes wee nearly closed and she was weaving. Sitting beside her was a hologram. It was easy to see it was such, because it was transparent. But it wasn't like any of the Library's holograms. It was not solid looking. But it was _who_ it was that had all three Tenno slowly lowering their weapons.

" _Sara_?" Olim exclaimed, his tone hushed, almost scared. He had cause.

Sara Priosa smiled at the Tenno, but it was melancholy. Serene's daughter was tired, that was clear just looking at her. But her attire was Tenno robes, not white ones. She had joined Amelia's Voices, the beings who gave up their names and became anonymous to serve humanity throughout the system. She and her adoptive mother Lis had both done it to hide from those who wanted the genetically engineered Tenno child for any number of nefarious reasons. So, what was a hologram of her doing sitting in the Library?

"Sara?" Cathi Gata asked softly. "What are you doing here? Is that really you?" Sara smiled at her and nodded. "You know we cannot take your word for such."

"I know. I heard you call Iriana, she can verify it is me. I am on independent study at the moment so I had time to myself." Sara said quietly. "But I still feel for the clan. When I heard Jill was hurt, I had to to come. It is not safe for me to be here physically, but I can come as a hologram. I apologize for the discourtesy, Library."

"You are Sara Priosa." The Library sad mildly. "We have heard of your adventures." Sara made a face and nodded. "You are welcome in our Library."

"Adventures are fun to read about."Sara said with a soft groan. "They are not so fun to _do_. Tenno Jill, you _need_ to go back to sleep." She pressed the weaving Tenno. "You need to recover more of your energy. You are nowhere close to recovered yet."

"The clan… need me..." Jill repeated.

"She is true Tenno." Sara said with a sigh as Cathi Gata sheathed her Glaive and strode to the bunk that was the sole furniture in the cell. Not that it needed anymore if the occupant was going to spend all of their time reading.

"Stubborn as rock, all of us." Cathi Gata agreed and eased Jill back down to the bunk. "Lie _down_ , sister. Iriana will be here momentarily. You do not want her mad at you, do you?"

"No." Jill managed as Cathi Gata laid her down. "But..."

"No 'buts', sister." Cathi Gata held the other Tenno down on the bunk effortlessly. "We need you, true. We need you _healed_. You are not."

"What the-?" Iriana's voice preceded the Healer into view. She strode into the cell which was getting cramped. " _Sara?_ "

"Hello Iriana." Sara smiled at her mother's sister. Her family got very confusing, but in the end, she had both Lis and Iriana as adoptive mothers. It worked. "I was on independent study, working on my Way. I learned how to make holograms." She waved at herself. "Then I heard Tenno Jill was hurt. I had to come."

"As a hologram." Iriana reached out and her hand physically touched the holographic form. She hissed and Sara nodded. "Sara!" She said sternly. "You know better than to play with such things."

"I am not." Sara promised. "This is just for here. I can be partially physical here because the Library was designed for holograms to work in. You know Lis won't let me put myself in danger again. Neither will Jane." Jane was Sara's teacher in the Way of the Technician, a Warrior Tenno and so much more.

"And a good thing!" Iriana took hold of Jill's hands and she frowned in concentration. Jill gave a sigh and relaxed into sleep. "She is going to be a pain about staying in the bed." The Healer said with a groan. "Library, is she healed enough to read?"

Reading the way the Library did it was restful, but it was possible that Jill would use up some of her energy in doing so. Not all Tenno did, but Jill had far too little to spare for anything right now.

"I would prefer she not." The Library said slowly from where it hovered in midair at the door tot he cell. "She is still very weak. Stand away." It commanded and everyone moved to the door. Energy started pouring into Jill from several places around the cell, slowly but steadily replenishing her vital core of Tenno energy.

"We should let her sleep.," Iriana said mildly as she glanced at Sara. "Library, you are authorized to keep her asleep as long as you deem necessary to replenish her energy. _Then_ she can read."

"If she stays still long enough." Sara chuckled as the Healer motioned for her to leave the room. The hologram led the way back towards the entrance.

"With the Healer's authorization, we can make sure her rhythms remain in sleep levels." The Library said calmly.

"You should have asked permission to enter, Sara." Iriana groaned. "I thought you were past that stage."

"I am." Sara's holographic form slumped a bit. "I just… Jill needed to know she wasn't alone. I know about being alone in such situations." Her face was blank now but Iriana hissed and nodded. She did.

"You are not alone now." Iriana said with a nod. "So…" She folded her arms across her chest. "Care to explain?" Everyone stared at her, even the Cephalon spun on its axis to have its face looking the Healer's way. Sara looked at the floor and Iriana nodded. "My Mom radar just went nuts, Sara. What have you _done_?"

"It didn't hurt anyone!" Sara said quickly. "It didn't! It did exactly as intended and came back just as planned. No one was hurt except some Infested! _They_ will reform!"

"Wait..." Olim actually gasped. "A guy on a robot… and Sara is a _Technician_." He stared at Sara who flushed, her holographic cheeks turning pink. "You _didn't!_ " Sara's hologram should have combusted, as red as her face got.

"Trainee Technician, Master Cyberlancer." Sara corrected Olim carefully, "Jane wanted me to build a robot. I did."

"You built an _Ambulas_ that had a _guy_ on its _back_." Iriana asked, dumbfounded. "In the name of the ancestors, _why_?"

"Did Nikis get the bullet?" Sara asked into the sudden silence that greeted the Healer's stunned words. Everyone was staring at Sara now and she shook her head. "Did he?"

"Sara!" This growl from the Healer was pure 'Mom is not happy'.

"Did he?" Sara begged. Martin shook his head and produced the bullet, staring at it.

"This is physical, not holographic." Martin said with a frown in his voice. "You made this." It was not a question but Sara nodded anyway. "For Nikis?" She nodded again. " _Why?_ "

Sara mumbled something and Iriana coughed. The holographic girl jerked and then looked a bit fearful.

"It won't work unless he touches it." Sara said weakly. "It is set to him. His energy."

"Work to do _what_?" Iriana demanded, anger rising, mixed with fear. "Sara, you know _better_ than to antagonize Nikis of all people!"

"It is not!" Sara was quick to reply. "It was a project. I did my research, I set my plans, I gathered my materials and I made it. It was supposed to be Nikis handling that, not anyone else."

"Nikis would have." Martin said slowly as he stared at the bullet. "If he had been awake." He winced dramatically. "If this is a _joke_ , I am running as far and as fast as I can."

"It is no joke." Sara said weakly. "It is a present for him."

"A _what?_ " Several people exclaimed but Martin stared from the bullet to Sara.

"Nikis has been a legend with the Tenno for a long, long time." Sara said weakly. "He is a very bad man, but his heart is usually in the right place. Even with Janet, he is alone and hurting far too often. I made that to remind him that he is _not_ alone. That there _are_ people who love him."

"And how did you know about this?" Martin demanded. "He told _us_ about his childhood heroes, but no one else." He paused and then groaned. "You _didn't!_ "

"I have my sources, Tenno Martin." Sara said primly. "Touch the primer." She smiled at Iriana and vanished.

"The what?" Iriana asked, but Martin was scrutinizing the bullet now, hes posture wary. Olim was scanning the thing with code, but nothing seemed to happen. The Cyberlancer shook his head as Martin touched the part of the bullet that had a lip on it.

Everyone froze as music started to sound from the bullet! Olim and Cathi Gata recognized the music from Aeron and Karen's records.

"That is the William Tell Overture." Martin said weakly. "The Lone Ranger's theme."

Everyone went totally still as a small hologram appeared over the bullet. It read-

' **Happy Birthday Nikis!** '

The four Tenno and the Cephalon stared at each other. Then the Cephalon vanished.

"How could she _possibly_ …?" Martin shook his head. "There is no _way_ she could have known what day he was born as a human. Or that his favorite character as a child was the Lone Ranger!"

"I… have a better question..." Iriana said weakly. "Who tells _Nikis_ about this?"

"Oh. Yeah."

* * *

Somewhere

Sara sighed as she returned to her form. She smiled at her companion, not that it mattered with her face concealing veil on, but the other was incredibly perceptive.

"He will get it." The form wasn't human, not in the slightest, but she had been once. "You do good work, Sara. The bot will work well underwater and it will freak the Grineer out when they send troops again, which they will eventually."

"Yeah." Sara slumped in her chair. "But I did want to see his reaction, Caroline."

"Probably safer not to." Nikis' _sister_ , formerly human and now one of the Oracles of Saturn replied. "Or from a _long_ distance away."

"Luckily, we are a long ways away." Sara mused as she rose form her chair and nodded to the sea turtle that had once been a human girl.

"You _really_ think we are far enough?" Caroline asked as the mismatched pair looked out a window into the seas of Titan, Saturn's moon.

"No, but if you give me a job, we can be busy when he gets here." Sara said as earnestly as she could.

"Sara!" Caroline snapped playfully at her. "Lis asked us to give you an internship to do your independent studies, not a job."

"Pity." Sara started to pull her robes off in preparation to put a diving suit on. Unlike the turtle, _she_ couldn't breathe underwater without help. "So, where to?" She groaned as the turtle chuckled.

" _To infinity! And beyond!_ "


End file.
